My Parent's Secret Keeper
by Megz2
Summary: AU: Sirius Black was never convicted for murder. However, the Wizarding World was still not convinced of his innocence and Harry was sent to the Dursleys. 11 years later Sirius gets custody of a godson who still believes in Sirius' guilt...
1. The Godfather

AN- This is my lucky 7 fanfic however, unlike the others, this one is complete and I will be updating every Thursday until it is finished. There are no pairings, but if you would like you may imagine Remus/Sirius slash. I'll leave that to personal preference. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!

My Parent's Secret Keeper

Chapter One: The Godfather

_Prologue_

_There was nothing that Minster Arthur Weasley could do. It was Halloween 1981, and after the death of his parents young Harry Potter had defeated the Dark Lord. However, the circumstances surrounding the Potter's death were the most tragic part of the story. Sirius Black, secret keeper and best friend of James Potter had betrayed them, and later killed a street full of muggles and Peter Pettigrew. There had been no survivors or witnesses. Because of the death of Lily and James there were no traces on Sirius Black that showed that he had once been their Secret Keeper. No proof, no convection, no justice for the Potters. There was nothing to be done, the aurors had to let the murderer go free._

_There was one victory for the side of light, however. Dumbledore had sent someone to retrieve the little boy-who-lived before Black could claim custody of his godson. Harry Potter had been sent to live with his muggle relatives, where blood magic wouldn't allow Sirius Black to find the infant. That's what mattered the most, Minster had to comfort himself, as well as his wife with, that Harry Potter was safe from his godfather…_

**11 years later…**

Harry looked around the station for his aunt or uncle. He had just finished his 2nd year at Hogwarts, and after a rather exciting school year, his summer at the Dursleys looked rather dull indeed. Not to mention his relatives couldn't be too happy about the previous summer when Harry left in a flying car. Ha! There was Uncle Vernon…he didn't seem too pleased to be at Kings Cross but Harry had seen him worse. Harry walked slowly towards his uncle until Uncle Vernon spotted him and started storming over. "There you are boy," he hissed in his nephew's ear. "Can't you freaks ever be on time?"

"I'm not a…"

"Yes you are boy, now we don't have time for this nonsense," Vernon interrupted swiftly walking in what must have been the way to where the car was parked. Rolling his eyes slightly, Harry followed. The Dursleys would never change. As he started lifting his trunk into the boot of the car Harry couldn't help that just for once that he would be able to have a normal, albeit, boring summer with his relatives. How wrong he was.

III

Sirius Black was ecstatic. For eleven years they had kept his godson from him, but after eleven painstaking years Sirius had found a way to claim what was his. It was an ancient law, that hadn't been used for years, but it still applied. If a child born of a witch and wizard became orphaned, it was to be the closest living MAGICAL relative that received custody of the said child. The law was initially put in place to protect young children during the time of the witch-burnings for they could not perform the spell to freeze the fire and save themselves. So it was technically illegal for a muggle to have custody of a wizard child unless they were the only relation left. Because Sirius was Harry's Godfather that made him closer than an uncle or aunt to Harry, in the law, therefore he had the rightful claim on the child.

Smiling and humming to himself, Sirius gathered up his research and legal documents proclaiming that he was indeed Harry Potter's godfather. Minister Arthur Weasley was in for one big surprise.

To say that the secretary in front of the minister's office was shocked to see Sirius Black in front of her demanding to see the minister would be the understatement of the century. Sirius Black had not been seen in the wizarding world for the past eleven years, after he committed the murder of those poor muggles. He had never been convicted, but everyone knew that he was guilty.

"I would like to see the Minister at once." proclaimed Sirius Black. He had his arms folded in over his chest, lazily holding his wand in his right hand. The secretary was terrified.

"D..d..do you have an appointment sir?"

Sirius laughed like a mad man. "Does it matter?" he asked in a threatening voice. "I insist that I see the minister at once, it is of grave importance."

The poor woman was shaking as she floo-called into the office behind her.

"Minister Weasley, there is a man here to see you, he says that it is very important." Sirius could hear a cheery voice from the other end come out.

"Well then send him in. Thank you Helen."

"Th..th..e minister will see you now."

Sirius grinned and walked into the office. "Thank you very much good madam," he said on his way in. When Sirius entered the minister was sitting with his chair facing away from the non-convicted criminal.

As Minister Weasley started to turn in his chair he started, "What can I do for…you…Black?" His tone turned from pleasant to that of disgust. "What do you want Black?"

"My godson." Sirius replied simply. Arthur Weasley remained cold.

"And what makes you think that you have any legal claim over him? Harry Potter will remain with his only living relations. Don't fight the same battle that you lost eleven years ago, nothing has changed since then."

"Au contraire," the smug man slapped the ancient law book down on the table in front of the red-haired minister. "Look at the law number 35 Section B."

Arthur looked down and began to read aloud, suspicious. "No child born of magical birth, in the event of the death of said child's parents, shall be in the custody of muggles when a magical guardian still remains."

Sirius grinned. "It is an old law, but still valid. I am said magical guardian Minister Weasley; I was officially named Harry Potter's godfather upon his birth on July 31st, 1980. James and Lily Potter had me stated as his legal guardian in the case of their death. I expect my godson to be present in the Leaky Cauldron at noon in a week's time so I can gain my rightful guardianship over the boy. No ministry presence is to be there. If these requests are denied I will take more serious action against the Ministry. Good day Minister, give my best to your wife and children." With that Sirius swept out of the room leaving behind a stunned Minister of Magic.

III

"But Arthur there must certainly be a way…a loophole…" Molly Weasley argued with her husband, the Minister of Magic. The red-haired man sighed.

"I don't think so Molly, there is not a single loophole that I could find and old laws are just as valid as the new ones, if not more so. There is no way that I could get the law changed in time to save Harry."

"Have you talked to Dumbledore?"

Arthur snorted. "He can't do any more than I can. Sirius Black is indeed the legal guardian of Harry Potter."

"Dad?" Arthur whipped around to see his youngest son standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"How much did you hear Ronald?"

"Something about Sirius Black having custody of Harry…" Molly Weasley burst into tears.

"I'm afraid it's true Ron," Mr. Weasley said while comforting his sobbing wife. "In one week Harry will no longer live with the Dursleys."

Ron's face went white. "But Dad…you're Minister surely you can…"

Mr. Weasley rubbed the temple of his head. "No Ron, Black has managed to get complete custody of Harry, legally."

"Can we hide him? If Black can't find Harry then…"

"That would do more harm than good Ronald, it would get us all in trouble with the law, as Minister I am not above law, and something like kidnapping a minor from his legal guardian could get me kicked out of office. And then I couldn't even make sure that Harry was being checked up on."

"But he killed 13 muggles! Shouldn't that count as something?"

"He was declared innocent, you know that Ron, there was no proof."

Ron had now gone from white to ash gray. "Poor Harry…"

III

Harry sat in his room, rather bored. The Dursleys were well…being the Dursleys. He ignored them, and they returned the favor. The result of this had been extreme boredom on Harry's part, so extreme, that he had already finished most of his summer work in the first week of summer. But now he didn't feel like doing his homework. The sky looked very appealing, and Harry wished that he could go out flying. He sighed deeply before there was a knock on the door, and his Uncle burst in.

"Yes?" Harry asked in a bored voice. Vernon spluttered.

"Aunt Marge will be arriving here in three days time, I want all your freakishness cleared out by then is that clear boy?" Harry shuddered. He hated Aunt Marge. There was no point in making a big deal out of it though; it would just make his uncle angry.

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

His uncle looked slightly surprised that Harry didn't fight back, and opened his mouth to speak before closing it again. He left the room muttering to himself.

Harry sighed and looked over to where Hedwig was perched. "I guess I better send you to Ron's house." Hedwig hooted, somewhat angrily.

"I know, I know, if I had any choice in the matter I would keep you here with me, or better yet go with you." An idea clicked in his head. Maybe he could stay with the Weasley's. That would be far more preferable to being at the Dursleys, especially if Aunt Marge would be coming along. It couldn't hurt to try.

_Dear Ron, _

_I know that this is sudden, but I just got news that my Uncle's sister, Marge will be arriving in three day's time, and I was wondering if I could possibly come and stay will you instead…_


	2. Of Dursleys and Weasleys

AN- Here is the next chapter, thank you to the reviewers…you may not be many, but I still really appreciate it. I'm sorry these chapters are so short, but I promise that they will get longer. Just remember every Thursday I will be updating at some point during the day. (I live on the west coast so for those of you in the east you have to give me until at least three in the morning your time.)

At this point I would also like to thank my beta and best friend, Kellie, who is the person for you to blame should you find any spelling or grammatical error in any part of this piece. She also allows me to talk her ear off with details and put up with one very long afternoon of making sure that I don't rip you off as far as plot goes. Hopefully there are no plot holes, and if there are, just remember, blame her for doing a bad job. I love you Kellie!

And for the most dreaded part of the fic, which I will only do once. Disclaimer: (Enter clever remark about how Harry Potter does not belong to me here.) Without further ado here is:

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

**Chapter Two: Of Dursleys and Weasleys **

"Dad! I just got a letter from Harry! He wants to know if he can come over." Ron yelled through the house one evening, after Hedwig had flown through his bedroom window.

"Ronald Weasley what did I tell you about yelling in this house? If you want to talk to your father, come downstairs to where we are." Molly Weasley yelled up to her youngest son.

Ron muttered something about his mother breaking her own rule, and went downstairs with the letter in his hand.

"Now that's better isn't it dear?" Molly asked when Ron finally made his way down the stairs. "Now what were you saying about Harry?"

"He was wondering if he could come over, because his awful Aunt Marge is coming over in three days, and I thought why make his summer any worse than it already is going to be?"

Molly grew solemn at this reminder of what was in store for Harry over the summer. "We'll have to contact Dumbledore, but other than that I think that it is a wonderful idea, what about you Arthur?" The way she asked him, made a point that he better not disagree with her.

"It sounds fine to me." He said in a tired voice. "We could make sure that the poor boy at least enjoys part of his summer. Go ahead and send a reply a Harry, telling him that we will pick him up tomorrow at 6:00 pm sharp, and that he should have his stuff ready to go by then. Meanwhile I'll floo Dumbledore, I'm sure that these arrangements will work out, especially in light of recent events."

Ron gave a whoop of joy and ran up to his room, hoping that Hedwig would still be there for him to send his reply with.

III

Harry ran downstairs as soon as he received the reply from Ron. He couldn't be any happier! Instead of having to deal with Aunt Marge, he would be able to go to The Burrow, and hopefully stay there for the rest of the summer. Things were looking up indeed, as Harry practically skipped into the living room where all three Dursleys were watching television. They all gave him strange looks because normally Harry only came down when it was mealtime.

"What do you want boy?" Uncle Vernon growled.

"I just thought you would like to know that my friends are coming to get me tomorrow at six, so you wont even have to worry about me doing mag…I mean what I do, when Marge is here."

Vernon spluttered for a couple seconds, but Harry didn't take the time to listen to what his Uncle might say, before he bounded back up to his room, a wide grin on his face. He would start packing right away.

III

Minister of Magic, Arthur Weasley, pulled up in front of Harry's house, in a ministry car. He was a good three minutes early. He decided to take this opportunity to talk to his youngest son, who was impatiently waiting to be let out of the car.

"Now Ron, I don't want you to say anything to Harry about Black during this week. We want him to enjoy his week with us, without having to worry about that Godfather of his. I have already spoken to your brothers and sister about this, and they are also sworn to secrecy."

"But…"

"No buts Ronald, you aren't to say a word is that clear?" Arthur said in his I'm-you're-father-and-the-Minister-of-Magic-and-you-better-listen-to-me voice. Ron rolled his eyes, but agreed.

"Can we go get him now at least?" He asked impatiently. Arthur smiled.

"Yes, I think that now would be as good of a time as ever. Let's go."

They got out of the car, escorted by a couple of Aurors to the front door of the

Dursley house. Mr. Weasley looked somewhat at a lost of what to do then. In a

wizarding house-hold, you usually just knocked, but here there was a small button

that seemed like it should be pressed. So he pressed it, and grinned when he heard a

noise come from it. And so he rang it again, and again.

"I've heard about these Ron! They are ding-bells, and muggles use them to…"

The door opened. There stood Harry, happy as could be. Arthur felt slightly bad for the boy, whose life would be shortly changed.

"Come in Minister Weasley."

"Good to see you Harry, Ron, why don't you go help Harry carry his trunk downstairs." Ron nodded and the two of them headed upstairs to get Harry's stuff.

Standing a little down the hallway were the Dursleys. This seemed as good as a time as ever to break the news to them about Sirius Black.

"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, I am Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, and Ron's father, I'm sure that you have heard all about Ron from Harry." He said extending his arm to the muggles.

Vernon very reluctantly accepted the handshake, only after a stern look from one of the Aurors.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. Is there someplace private we could talk?"

Petunia pointed silently to the kitchen.

"Excellent. Shacklebolt, you and Dawlish please wait for me here."

The two aurors nodded. And silently went to wait outside the door to the kitchen.

"Shall we go in then?" Arthur asked. He and the Dursleys entered the kitchen, without a word. "Now you may want to sit down for this."

The Dursleys still didn't say anything. It didn't seem to faze Arthur.

"Now I am not sure whether or not you are aware of this, but Harry has a godfather by the name of Sirius Black."

"He has a godfather? Why isn't he staying with him then?" Vernon practically yelled.

"Well you see after Harry's parents were killed Black went after his remaining

friends, one being Mr. Peter Pettigrew. He ended up not only killing Pettigrew, but

also 12 other muggles in London. There was, however, no solid proof to convict him

with. So we managed to keep Harry safe by putting him in your care. Unfortunately,

Black has found a law stating that all magical children must have a magical guardian.

Harry will be sent to live with his godfather in a week's time."

Arthur Weasley was shocked when Vernon Dursley grinned madly.

"You mean that we won't have to deal with the boy anymore?"

Quite disturbed Arthur said, "No, but I'm not sure that you understand…"

"Oh we understand! Petunia, we'll finally be rid of him, no more freakishness in this household." He gave his wife a huge kiss.

"Dad, we're ready." Ron called from outside in the hallway. Arthur frowned.

"Very well. It was nice meeting you Mr. and Mrs. Dursley."

The two ignored him and went about having a very passionate kiss. Arthur was quite

disgusted as he left the house, seeing as the boys were already waiting for him out in

the car.


	3. I have a Godfather?

AN- Sorry that I forgot to update yesterday, I was sick and home from school all day, which would make you think that I would have had plenty of time to update, but alas, in my sicken state, I forgot. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and thank you for all the reviews so far!

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter Three: I have a Godfather?

Harry grinned as he entered the Burrow, home of his best friend. As he entered the front hall, the Boy-Who-Lived found himself almost tackled by a rib-cracking hug from Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry, its so wonderful that you came! I'm so happy that you didn't hesitate to owl Ron about coming to stay here."

"Thank you for having me Mrs. Weasley."

"Anytime dear…oh look at you, you're so thin! What do your relatives feed you? Oh, never mind that I have some treats that I whipped up in the kitchen for you, the least I can do is fatten you up a bit in this week that you'll be staying with us…"

"A week Mrs. Weasley? I thought that I would be staying the summer? Am I going to the Dursleys…?" Harry interrupted.

"No, of course not dear, you'll be…oh look there is Arthur and Ron, I was wondering what was taking them so long."

"Sorry Molly dear, we were just speaking with Shacklebolt and Drawlish for a minute." Mr. Weasley said as he entered the house.

"Ron, why don't you show Harry to the guest room across the hall from yours."

"Alright mum." The two boys left to trudge up the stairs. On the way up Harry tried to interrogate Ron about what Mrs. Weasley had said.

"Where am I going in a week?"

Ron shrugged. "Don't know…Diagon Alley maybe for school supplies?" Inwardly Ron grimaced. Harry would be angry if he realized that his best friend had lied to him. To Ron's great relief, Harry fell for it, and nodded in acceptance.

'He's lying, or avoiding the truth,' Harry thought to himself. He knew that Ron knew more than what he said, but now wasn't the best time to get answers out of his best mate.

They entered the room that Harry had called home most of the last summer, after Ron and the twins had come and 'rescued' him from the Dursleys. Much to Harry's delight, the room was identical to how he had left it. Hedwig had already arrived and was sitting on a beautiful wooden perch in the corner. The room was perfect for Harry. It was modest, but comfortable. There was a nice double bed, almost as comfortable as Harry's four-poster at school, a desk with drawers that would refill themselves with parchment, and a large dresser for Harry to put his things away in.

"So do you want to do unpack first, or play Quidditch first?" Ron asked.

Harry's face light up. He went straight over to his trunk and pulled his Nimbus 2000.

Ron grinned. "Last one there is a troll boogie!"

III

"Harry! Ron! Hermione's just arrived," Mrs. Weasley called outside where the boys were flying. Harry had been at the Burrow for six days and had enjoyed every minute of his visit. Of course, almost every minute was spent playing Quidditch. But he was excited that Hermione would be here. He and Ron were great friends, of course, but Harry had to admit it was more fun to be able to watch Ron and Hermione bicker with each other, as a way of dancing around their feelings for each other.

"What are you grinning about," Ron asked as they landed on the ground. "Now we're going to have to spend the rest of the summer doing homework! Even if we finish everything, Hermione's likely to insist that we study for our OWLs because they're only three years away, and you can never be prepared enough and blah blah bla…"

"Ronald Weasley, I heard that!" Ron's face went a little gray.

"She's standing right behind me isn't she?" Harry nodded and laughed. Ron turned around slowly to be met by a stern-looking Hermione, her hands were on her hips and she was tapping her foot.

"You couldn't have said anything?" Ron mouthed at Harry. Harry shrugged.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Hi…Hermione…How are you?" Ron asked nervously.

"Fine." She remained in her 'McGonnagal' stance for about five more seconds, seeing how long she could make Ron scrim before her expression softened and she threw her arms around Ron in a hug. Harry watched amused as Ron turned bright red from embarrassment. That is, until Hermione registered that Harry was there too.

"Oh Harry," she cried, giving him a hug too. "I can't believe it! I was sure that there was something that Minister Weasley would be able to do something to prevent this. Are you ok? Oh, of course not, how could you be?"

Harry was very confused. "What are you talking about Hermione?"

"Sirius Black of course!"

"Who's Sirius Black?"

"You godf…for Merlin's sake Ronald stop jumping up and down like that." Hermione snapped at Ron before continuing, in the direction of Harry. "You know who Sirius Black is…"

"Sirius Black is Voldemort?" Ron grimaced at the name.

"No, of course not, he's your godfather who just gained custody of you last week, it was all over The Daily Prophet. You're going to live with him in a day."

"I have a godfather?" It was then that Mrs. Weasley walked out of the house. She froze when she heard Harry's question.

"And I thought Hermione was the smart one…" Ron muttered.

III

"Ok so let me get this straight. I have a godfather whose name is Sirius Black?" Harry, after about an hour of confusion and running around, was now in the Mr. Weasley's study at the Burrow. Mr. Weasley had just finished explaining at least part of the situation to the poor confused, Boy-Who-Lived.

"Yes Harry," Mr. Weasley said.

"And he was assigned my legal guardian after my parents died?" Harry was pacing around the office, ranting.

"Yes, but…"

"And you and everyone else in the world knew this…"

"Yes, Harry-"

"And you didn't see fit TO TELL ME? I could have avoided going to the DURSLEYS?"

"Harry you have to listen to me…"

"No, I don't you sent me to the Dursleys instead of to the man my parents wanted to raise me, I could have grown up with someone who actually cared about me? Who would have told me about being a wizard BEFORE I turned 11?"

"Harry, Sirius Black was responsible for the death of your parents!" Mr. Weasley was finally able to exclaim. Harry fell silent, and sat down heavily in a chair.

"Look Harry, I know that this is shocking and difficult news but-"

"How?" Harry asked quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"How? I thought that Voldemort was the one who killed my parents." Mr. Weasley looked at Harry sadly.

"He was Harry." The minister sighed. "But there is more to the story than that. As I said before, Sirius Black was your father's best friend. James trusted Sirius more than anyone in the world." A lump rose in Harry's throat, just like any other time his parents were mentioned.

"When Lily and James found out that they were danger, and needed to go into hiding, there was one person that James trusted above all others to keep his secret. You see Harry, there is a ritual known as the Fidelus charm. This charm trusts the secret of the location of a person, or in this case, a family, to a single wizard, who is called the Secret Keeper."

Harry realized where this must be going, but kept silent.

"Sirius Black was your parent's Secret Keeper Harry. While he held the secret You-Know-Who could look into the window of your parent's home and not see them at all. Unfortunately-"

"He betrayed them." Harry supplied, feeling numb inside.

"That is what we believe," Mr. Weasley stated. "However, when a Secret Keeper's secret dies, there is no evidence left of the bond. Still, a low-class Auror who was also a close friend with your parents, decided to go after Black shortly after Voldemort attacked. Peter Pettigrew found Black in London, but before he had a chance to get him into custody, Black blew the street up, killing 12 muggles and Pettigrew. However, there were no witnesses, as everyone but him was dead. He was tried, and found innocent, as there wasn't enough evidence against him."

"Innocent until proven guilty," Harry said darkly.

"Exactly."

"Why couldn't you just send him to Azkaban? You knew what he was guilty of!" To say the very least, Harry was angry.

"That's not how the law works Harry," Mr. Weasley scolded. "Every witch and wizard have to be given a free trial, and the Ministry does not get to just decide who is guilty."

"So I really have to live with him? Why didn't I have to before now?"

"We were able to protect by saying that the Dursleys were your last living relatives, and that legally you belonged there. However, Black found a loophole, one that Dumbledore and I looked over."

Harry didn't even bother asking, and just let the man continue.

"Its an ancient law that was created in a time when muggles prosecuted witches and wizards, created just after the law saying that you cannot use magic during the summer. If there is a magical guardian still alive, after the death of a wizard's parents, said wizard will have to go to the magical guardian over any living muggle or squib relatives."

"And there's no way out?" Harry asked hopelessly.

"I'm afraid not. As of tomorrow after noon, you will no longer be Harry James Potter, but rather, under the law, Harry James Black Potter."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

To Snowdrop.Faery- Unfortunately, for him, Dumbledore is powerless against Harry having to move in with Sirius, so he can't say much about the magical protection, especially since he doesn't want Sirius to know about it. For now Harry has spent enough time at the Dursleys for protection to last through the year, later we will just have to see.


	4. Meetings

AN- Once again thank you for all the reviews. Because I was a day late last week, I am updating a day early this week. I really like this chapter, and I think that you will to!

My Parent's Secret Keeper

Chapter Four: Meetings

Sirius was nervous. It wasn't a good feeling. He had been waiting at the Leaky Cauldron for two and a half hours now, anxiously watching the fireplace for the appearance of his godson. Actually, ever since his meeting with the Minister, Sirius had been nervous about this day. He had decorated, undecorated, and redecorated Harry's room at least three times in the last week.

Sirius knew very little about his godson; practical exile from the Wizard World for the last 11 years made it almost impossible to keep up with what his godson was up to. He didn't even know what house Harry was in! Of course, Sirius assumed that he was a Gryffindor and had decorated the room accordingly. Suddenly out of the side of the hood he had drawn over his head Sirius saw the flames in the fireplace turn green. He perked up slightly, ready to leave the booth he was sitting in. To his great disappointment it was not Harry that came out of the fireplace, it was a tall, lanky red headed boy came out. Shortly after the red head came a girl with very bushy brown hair arrived. Sirius' eyes watched the fireplace closely as the flames turned green a third time.

'Third times a charm,' Sirius thought to himself.

III

Harry tumbled out of the fireplace, coughing and spluttering. He hated floo powder. Ron laughed at him as he came out and slammed Harry roughly on the back. Harry glared.

"I hate floo powder," he grumbled at Ron.

"Better be careful of what you say mate, that could become a headline story. The Great Harry Potter calls for ending of floo traveling! You could run the whole thing out of business." Ron teased the now beet red Boy-Who-Lived.

Hermione, for once finding the boys' antics funny said, "Oh the famous Harry Potter hates floo powder. I can't wait to report it to my newspaper; do you have anything else you would like to say Mr. Potter? Perhaps you would like to say that flying carpets shouldn't be banned? Or you, the marvelous genius boy-wizard has created a new type of travel to once again save all our lives! Oh Harry what do you have in store for us now?"

Fred and George Weasley appeared behind Hermione and joined in the fun.

"Harry, Harry! Whose your next girlfriend?" One (Harry wasn't sure which) asked him.

"Harry could you tell me how you manage the 'just out of bed' look all the time?" The other twin teased.

"Harry, the readers _Witch Weekly_ would like to know what you like most in a girl?" Hermione asked, but it was the last question asked of Harry, because before anyone could ask any more annoying questions a black blur came hurling over to the group. The figure stood between Harry and Hermione in a protective way.

"Stay away from him you slime," the man growled.

"Don't talk to her that way!" Ron interjected, coming to Hermione's defense.

"What's she done to _you_ anyway."

"You're just as bad, bothering innocent boys, just because he's famous. Reporters these days…" The man said, getting into Ron's face.

"But there not-" Harry tried to say, before being cut off.

"Don't bother protecting these roaches, Harry they-"

"Who're you calling roaches?" One of the twins demanded, stepping between the man and Ron.

The man's face turned red, and he pointed his finger in the twin's face. "You, you slimy, two-faced snake, if you ever come near Harry again I'll-"

"That's my son your threatening Mr. Black!" Mr. Weasley had finally arrived.

Harry froze. That man was Sirius Black? He didn't look the way that Harry had expected. He looked him over closely. Black was clean cut, and it looked as though he had spent a lot of time on his dark brown hair. He was wearing a brown leather coat, and nice black slacks. If his face weren't red, he would have looked perfectly sane. And he was red--purple almost as he turned around and sneered at Mr. Weasley.

"I thought I made it clear that I wanted no ministry presence here, _Minister_."

Mr. Weasley responded calmly, "I'm not here on Ministry business Mr. Black. I'm simply here to see my son's friend off."

"Friend?" Black asked, surprised.

"Yes, the youngest boy here, Ronald, is young Harry's friend."

"Best friend," Ron said, glaring and Black.

"Ah yes, and this young lady here is Hermione Granger, Harry's _other_ best friend. And that boy you were threatening. That's George, a teammate of Harry's, and right next to him is Fred, also a teammate of Harry's."

"Last time I checked teammates and friends didn't sell out to magazines." Black practically shouted.

"And the last time I checked friends didn't sell each other away to dark wizards." The Minister quipped.

Harry watched Black's face carefully. There was a trace of hurt for a second- a millisecond really- before the expression changed back to a look of extreme anger.

"If you remember correctly, _Minister_, I was acquitted."

"Well we can't catch all deatheaters."

"Don't you dare-"

"What don't want to face the truth Mr. Black?"

"No I- Never mind you're not worth my breath Minister. I've already been proven innocent. I'm not here to prove that to you. I'm here to pick up my godson. Come on Harry, let's get away from these _people_."

"But-" Harry protested, looking at Mr. Weasley with pleading eyes.

"Now," Black said in a stern voice.

Hermione's eyes began to water as she gave Harry a huge hug. "Be safe," she whispered to him.

Ron looked solemn, "See you around mate. Owl us at the Burrow."

"He will owl you if I allow him to owl you, young Mr. Weasley," Black said with a smirk. He put a hard hand on Harry's shoulder and started to lead the terrified teen out of the pub.

"Oh, Mr. Black," Mr. Weasley called after them, "expect some…visits from ministry social workers."

"WHAT?" Black turned around quickly, his temper rising again.

"It's ministry procedure Black. When custody is changed from one guardian to another, the home and surroundings must be deemed fit. And if they're not-well, I think you can understand what could happen then."

Black fumed. "There will be nothing wrong with our home, Minister. That's a promise."

"We'll see Mr. Black," Mr. Weasley said, before approaching Black and leaning in close to whisper, "If you hurt one hair on that boy's head I will see that you are sent to Azkaban quicker than you can say 'innocent.'"

Black didn't respond. "Let's go Harry," he said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder again and leading him out to a waiting taxi outside the Leakey Cauldron. With that they were gone.

III

The taxi ride was awkward, to say the very least. Harry sat stiffly as far away from Sirius as possible. For his part, Sirius tried his best to make conversation.

"So you play Quidditch?" He asked, assuming from the fact that Fred and George were Harry's teammates. Harry grunted in an affirmative way in response.

"Did you know that James used to play as well?" Sirius asked in a wistful way.

Another grunt. "You're dad was one of the greatest chasers I had ever seen, could've played for England. I don't suppose that you play chaser too?"

Harry shook his head, no.

"You're too small for a beater-do you play keeper then?"

Another shake.

"Ah, of course, you have Lily's build. You must be the seeker."

Harry grunted yes.

"Playing seeker is difficult. You must not be half as blind as James was. Lily always said that if James lost his glasses he would fall flat on his face."

Harry said nothing, but further concentrated on staring out the window. He was furious. How dare Black talk about Harry's parents in a fond way when he was responsible for their death!

There was an awkward silence. "…So those were your best mates?" Sirius asked, in a desperate attempt to make conversation. Harry nodded. "The girl-Hermione was it- was cute, is there a Mrs. Potter is sight soon?"

"NO!" Harry yelled loudly, before forgetting that he was temporarily mute.

Sirius chuckled.

"Wow, an answer with one full word, maybe soon we can move onto three word phrases."

Harry ignored him. Thankfully, at that moment, before Sirius could try any more conversation the taxi arrived outside a brick house, that couldn't have been more than an hour outside of London.

"We're here," the taxi driver announced.

"Er- thanks," Sirius said. "How much is it?"

"90 pounds sir."

Sirius fumbled with his wallet, looking clumsily at the muggle money.

"Harry, do you know which is which? I can never tell, I'm rubbish with muggle money," Sirius whispered.

Harry took the money from his godfather and started calculating it out.

"I'll just go inside then- come in when you're done with-this."

Harry nodded. In his head, he was trying to figure out how much tip would be, while Sirius bounded up to the house. Finally, Harry figured it out and handed the money over to the driver.

"Thanks much!" The driver said before driving away quickly. Harry sighed and looked up at the house. It was brick, and appeared to be three stories from the outside (Harry couldn't tell if there was a basement or not) and it wasn't quite as magical looking as The Burrow. There was a garden that looked well kept, and a pool in the back. Harry sighed again and started heading up to the house. He hesitated a moment before opening the door, thinking of running. If only it wouldn't cause Mr. Weasley so much trouble. With much trepidation, Harry opened the door.

Inside, the front hall was tiny, but wasn't huge either. There were picture everywhere, of Harry's parents when they were young, and to Harry's anger, a young Sirius Black. They all looked so…happy. Suddenly Harry heard voices coming from the other room.

"But he hates me Moony!"

"Well, with the entrance that you just described to me, I'm not surprised Padfoot. You always do manage to make the worst first impressions."

"What am I going to do Moony? I thought everything would be so perfect, all I've thought about for the last 11 years is how to get custody of Harry, and I finally do, and now I don't know what to do with him!"

"Just give him time Sirius, he'll come around. I did. Meanwhile, I believe that he's standing right outside the door, why don't you let him in Padfoot?" Harry was startled and backed away slightly as a distraught looking Sirius Black flung the door open.

"Come in Harry, there is someone you should meet," He said in a tired voice. In an armchair by the fire Harry saw a man that was in some of the pictures in the hall, only older with graying hair, sitting in a chair by the fireplace.

"Hello Harry, I'm Remus Lupin."


	5. Remus Lupin

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter Five: Remus Lupin

Remus looked at Harry with a smile on his face. Everyone always had said that he looked just like his father, which was true, but this boy had Lily written all over him. The way he held himself, straight backed- but not arrogant, his build- he wasn't as lanky or tall as James had been, and of course those eyes. Not only were Harry's eyes the exact color of Lily's but also they had the same spark, and at this time the same anger. Remus almost chuckled at the thought; no one could throw a temper tantrum better than Lily could. After an awkward pause, Harry found his voice. "Hi."

"That's more than what I got," Sirius grumbled.

"It's more than you deserve," Harry said under his breath. Sirius prickled.

"Now listen here…" he started, but Remus stopped him.

"Why don't you go into the kitchen and get lunch going Sirius? I'm sure that Harry is very hungry right now, and as we know, your hunger never dies out."

"But Moony…" Sirius whined.

"Go Sirius." Sirius knew better than to ignore that tone of voice, and with a pout, in a very childish manner, he stomped off to the kitchen.

"Why don't you have a seat Harry?" Remus asked in a kind voice.

"Ok."

"Now, as said before my name is Remus Lupin, but you may call me Remus or Moony, as I'm known by my friends. Now you young man, I haven't seen you since you were a baby."

This caught Harry's attention. "You knew me as a baby?"

"I did. Quite a little troublemaker you were, there was this one time when you got a hold of a wand, James' I believe, and you managed to catch your nursery on fire. Lily was furious. I do believe that James slept on the couch for about a week after that." Remus laughed.

"So you knew my parents?"

"I most certainly did, James, Sirius, and P-Lily were great friends at Hogwarts. Or at least, Lily and I were good friends, and I was a good friend with James and Sirius as well. Let's just say that your mother needed a while to- erm, warm up to your father."

"What were they like?" Harry asked hungrily. He had been waiting a long time to hear about his parents.

"James was a great prankster, and he loved Quidditch, the only thing he loved more than Quidditch or pranks was your mother. Lily, on the other hand, was top of the class, and she had quite a temper. But she also loved your father, and they were the some of the nicest, most caring people that I ever had the fortune of meeting. When they died…"

"They died because of BLACK!" Harry yelled, angry and emotional.

"Harry, shh, I know."

Harry was taken aback. "You know?"

Remus nodded. "I've always known, Sirius betrayed your parents."

"Your still friends with him!"

"Shh, not everything is as it appears Harry. I'm going to tell you a great secret, that only the Minister, Dumbledore, and I know. Sirius cannot find out about this."

Harry was silent, but he nodded his head.

"About nine years ago, I was contacted by the Minister, asking me to come and see him at the ministry. I, naturally was confused, as I had only met the man in passing before. But when you're asked personally by the Minister to come, you come. And I did. I went to his office, where he was sitting, with Dumbledore too. He dismissed all of his aurors, and made them stand outside the room and put up a silencing charm. Dumbledore said that they had a very important, very dangerous job for me. At the time I was unemployed, so I defiantly wanted to hear what they had for me. You see, over the last three years there at been many disturbances at your house Harry, someone was trying to get to you, and they were sure that it was Black. They explained the situation to me, and asked me to rekindle my friendship with Black. I, of course, was horrified at the idea. But it was the only way to keep you safe. So I befriended Black, and made sure that he never went after you illegally again. ."

Harry gaped, "So you're not friends with Black?"

Remus shook his head. "Not truly. But my appearance of friendship is more important than ever now Harry, if I'm around no harm will come to you. Black wouldn't dare."

"Remus, Harry, lunch is ready," Sirius called, from what Harry assumed, was the kitchen.

"Why don't you go ahead Harry, I have to write some letters now. Remember, not a word of this to anyone. It's a matter of life and death Harry."

Harry nodded, and was about to the leave the room when he stopped and asked, "Why were you called Moony?"

Remus laughed. "That's a story for another time Harry, now go eat lunch."

As Harry left the room, Remus felt bad about lying to the boy. Well, not really out right lying, but he left out the important details. Like the fact that he had, at first, refused the job. That is, until something happened at the Ministry before he could leave…

_Remus walked curiously into the Minister of Magic's office. He had been surprised when an owl had come to his house, requesting him have a meeting with the Minister. And if you are invited to have a meeting with the Minister, you don't refuse. Quite frankly, the werewolf had no clue why he was being invited in the first place. And that is why, when he was escorted into the office, he was only mildly surprised to see Albus Dumbledore there as well, chatting with the Minister. _

"_Ah, Mr. Lupin, I'm glad you were able to make it today, why don't you have a seat?" The Minister asked. _

"_Of course Minister," Remus said, sitting down, "How have you been?"_

"_Mr. Lupin, that question is the very reason I invited you here today. Headmaster Dumbledore and I are concerned." There was a slight pause. "When you were at Hogwarts you were close friends with Lily and James Potter, were you not?"_

"_I was," the question didn't clear up any of Remus' confusion. _

"_And you remained close friends up to the time of their death? A kind of unofficial godfather and uncle to their son, Harry Potter?"_

"_Yes, we were in close contact until the time they went into hiding…a month before they died." Remus heart quickened. Was this about Harry? The werewolf had never allowed himself to get close to The-Boy-Who-Lived after the death of his parents, mostly as a precaution, he didn't trust himself not to just take the baby away. And he wouldn't be able to keep Harry, Remus was too afraid that he would accidentally hurt the boy. _

_The Minister continued, knocking Remus out of his thoughts, "Then is it safe to assume that you were also friends with Sirius Black?"_

_Remus froze. "I was once friends with a man named Sirius Black, but as far as I am concerned, he died the night he betrayed Lily and James." He said coldly. Remus hadn't thought about Sirius in at least a year, trying to block out bad memories. _

_Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "Of course Remus, we understand. The Minister was simply wondering if you were still friends with Black after school."_

"_I was, before we found out what he was."_

"_And have you been in correspondence with him since after the death of Lily and James?"_

"_No, I don't understand what this has to do with anything. I wasn't in league with Sirius, I have had nothing to do with these last two years."_

"_Of course, of course," the Minister said. "And Sirius Black has everything to do with this meeting. Recently there have been some…disturbances…in the wards surrounding Harry Potter. We have reason to believe that Black is trying to kidnap him."_

_Remus' eyes widened. "He hasn't gotten to him has he? Is Harry ok?"_

"_Harry is fine dear boy," Dumbledore said. "But we have reason to believe that Black could find a way to get to Harry, even though we have increased the wards. That is why we asked you here today."_

"_What do you want me to do? Do you need my help with the wards? Do you need me to watch Harry?"_

"_No, what we are asking of you today is far more difficult than that Mr. Lupin. We want you to watch Black. If there is someone near him who we can trust we can make sure that he doesn't get to Harry." The Minister explained._

"_You want me to spy on Sirius?"_

"_Basically yes. We want you to befriend him, make him trust you again, and watch him."_

"_I'm sorry, Minister, Headmaster, I don't think I could I…"_

_The fireplace in the office lit up bright green, and a small red-haired boy with red hair and horn-rimmed glasses stumbled out. He looked to be about six, and his eyes were swollen and red, he had obviously been crying. _

_"Percy?" The Minister asked, surprised._

_"D-daddy, Scabbers ran away. I think that Fred n' George scared him away…an…and…"_

_Weasley bent down to his son's level. "There there Percy, I'm sure that we can find him. How many four toed rats can there be out there? Especially with the unique color of his fur."_

_The little boy, Percy, nodded, but still looked really sad._

"_Was his fur dusty brown with a little black spot on his head?" Remus asked suddenly. All eyes shot to him. It was little Percy who answered._

_"Yes, it looked like a scab to me, that's why I named him Scabbers. How'd you know mister?" Remus didn't respond._

_"Now, Percy I'll help you find Scabbers later. Right now I'm in a very important meeting. Does your Mum know you're here?"_

_The boy shook his head. "Then you better get back son, before she discovers you're missing." _

_Percy nodded and called into the fire, "THE BURROW!" He was gone. Dumbledore turned to Remus._

"_Are you sure you wont reconsider Mr. Lupin it would be a great service to us all, especially for young Harry."_

_Remus seemed to be looking far off._

"_Mr. Lupin?"_

"_I'll do it."_

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- Well I hoped you like, I think Wednesdays work better for me posting, so I plan on postings anywhere from Wednesday through Friday. I promise I wont do this often, but please don't forget to review!

MagicalWinry- Don't you get sick of hearing how much Harry looks like James? But I do think that the beginning of this chapter will make you happy.

Laura- We haven't even come close to the cliffhangers we will get in later chapters.

A preview of the next chapter, to entice:

"_Minister, what brings your…delightful presence to my humble abode?"_

"_Before you BETRAYED them, before you led them to their deaths, before you STABBED them in the back. Would my parents really want to leave me with a murderer?"_


	6. Confrontations

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter Six: Confrontations

Lunch was a silent affair. There were a few attempts at conversation made by the two older men, but the talk would always result in a series of grunts and nods from Harry. Finally, when they had all finished their food, Harry offered to clean up.

"Oh no, Harry! Its your first day here, you shouldn't have to lift a finger," Remus insisted. "In fact, Sirius why don't you show Harry to his room, he must be exhausted from this morning, if what you described was accurate, I bet that he could use some rest."

The almost-convict's eyes lit up. "That's an excellent idea Remus, follow me Harry, I can't wait to show you your room."

Harry hesitated. "But…I could stay down here and help with the dishes, really its not a problem…" he said shooting pleading looks at Remus. However, if the man noticed these looks he gave no indication.

"No, go on upstairs and rest," he maintained. Because there seemed to be no other choice, the Boy-Who-Lived sighed and followed his godfather.

"However," Remus started before they could leave the room completely, "Padfoot you are more than welcome to come back down and help clean up this mess you made." Sirius winced, but continued walking. "I mean it Black!" By then the two were almost half way up the stairs.

They went up one flight and stopped at a long corridor, about two doors down, Harry noticed a door painted red with the gold letters 'Harry' painted on the door. How did Black know he was a Gryffindor?

"Well, this is your room," Black said, approaching the door. Harry raised an eyebrow clearly saying, 'no shit.' The older man opened the door. Harry was actually somewhat surprised at what he saw inside. The whole room was decorated in red and gold; there was a corner that looked like a mini replica of the Gryffindor common room, fireplace and all. On the other corner was a four-poster bed that looked like it had been taken straight out of Harry's dormitory. The room even had a small balcony outside. Even though the room wasn't huge, it was certainly nothing like the size of Dudley's second bedroom.

"Do you like it?" Sirius asked nervously.

Harry shrugged, hiding any sort of excitement. "Its fine, very…red and gold."

Sirius hesitated. "You are a Gryffindor, aren't you?" Harry said nothing. "I mean its fine if you're not, I mean I don't care, we can change the colors of the room, I just thought because James and Lily were Gryffindor that you…well it doesn't always work like that, it didn't for me…but my parents…not the point, what house are you in?" He was babbling, Harry found it hilarious, so he waited a couple of seconds before responding.

"Gryffindor." Black visibly relaxed.

"Oh good. I better let you rest, like Remus suggested. Um, there's a bathroom one door down to your right, and my bedroom is just down the hall if you ever need me at night…but for now I'll just go downstairs and help with the dishes. Is there anything else you want or need?"

Harry grunted negative. "All right then, you know where I'll be, see you at dinner?" No response. Flustered, Sirius left the room and went downstairs to talk to his werewolf friend.

"You're in one piece! Congratulations Padfoot, you've survived another encounter with Harry," Remus said with a grin on his face as Sirius entered the kitchen. Sirius glared.

"You seem to be chummy with him pretty quick. Why does he like you better than me?" He whined.

"Maybe its because he doesn't think that I'm the sole reason for the death of his parents."

"Yeah, but your best friends with the man who he thinks is the sole reason for the death of his parents, he doesn't seem to hold that against you." Sirius quipped back. Remus smiled in a mischievous way.

"Oh but I'm not. I'm a spy sent by the Minister of Magic himself to protect Harry from you."

Sirius gasped dramatically. "But Moony! My own best friend! Oh how you've fooled me all these years. Why don't I just kick you out now?"

"Because if you did, you would starve to death, and who else will go and get your groceries?"

"True, true," Sirius said, hanging his head in defeat. His expression all of a sudden turned dark. "Really, though what am I going to do about Harry? I'm sure that he's already been brain washed by that no good-"

There was a pounding on the front door. The two friends looked before they nodded at each other, and pulled out their wands. Quietly, they went to the door, as the pounding continued, Harry came down the stairs.

"Whose that?" He asked. Sirius, in a panic, motioned for his godson to go back up the stairs.

"Harry, go upstairs now."

"But-"

Remus interrupted, "Harry, we don't know whose at this door, go!"

Harry obeyed, reluctantly. "Three, two,-" Remus mouthed before yelling, "ONE!"

Sirius flung open the door, wand drawn.

"That is unnecessary Mr. Black," it was the Minister of Magic, with an entourage of aurors. Sirius put his wand down.

"Minister, what brings your…delightful presence to my humble abode?"

"My son's owl was unable to get through to young Mr. Potter, so we decided to check and make sure that he was alright."

Sirius cursed under his breath, he had forgotten to take down the charms that made it impossible for owls to get through.

"What was that Mr. Black?"

"Nothing Minister, I assure you, I only have to take down some of my wards. Harry is doing excellently. We ate lunch and now he is upstairs resting. Good day Minister." He tried to shut the door, but the Minister stuck his foot in the door.

"I'm afraid that I must insist on seeing Mr. Potter for myself Black."

"He's sleeping, _Minister_, I don't want to disturb him."

"I assure you Minister Weasley, that Harry is fine," Remus added in.

"I believe you Mr. Lupin," the Minister said in a kinder voice than he had been using before, "but I'm sure you'll understand why we need to check up on the well being of the boy."

"I told you-" Sirius started, but before he could finish, a voice came from the stairwell.

"I'm here Mr. Weasley."

Sirius winced, and in a somewhat annoyed voice said, "I told you to go upstairs Harry."

Both Harry and Mr. Weasley ignored the almost-convict. "Its nice to see you Harry, we were worried when Ron's owl wasn't able to get through to you. Are you alright?"

Harry was considering lying, but a look on Remus' face told him not to. "I'm fine Mr. Weasley. Ron sent me an owl?"

"Oh yes," responded the red-haired man. "I have it right here in my pocket…here its is…"

Sirius stopped him in mid-action. "I get the final word on what mail Harry can and cannot receive, as his guardian, better give that to me Minster, it could be dangerous."

Mr. Weasley went red. "Are you accusing my son of being dangerous?"

"I don't know," Sirius shrugged. "I've never gotten a real chance to get to know him, for all I know, he could be trying to hurt my godson. And I wont allow that."

"I'm sure you wouldn't." Weasley grounded out.

"Sirius, just let Harry have his letter," Remus said, stepping in between the Minister and his friend. Sirius took the letter from the Minister and handed it to Harry, who happily took it.

"Thanks Mr. Weasley."

"No trouble Harry, just let me know if you need anything else. Mr. Lupin could I have a word with you outside?"

Lupin faked a concerned and confused look. "Why, of course Minister."

The two of them, and the aurors walked outside, shutting the door behind them. Harry started heading up the stairs, but he didn't get far before his godfather started in on him.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, you get back here this minute." Harry was so shocked by the harsh voice that he turned around.

"If I tell you to do something, you need to do it right away. What if that had been death eaters? You could have been hurt!"

Harry mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" Harry looked up defiantly.

"I said, 'Like you care.'"

Sirius reddened. "Like I care, like I CARE? Of course I care Harry, your parents left you to me before-"

"Before you BETRAYED them, before you led them to their deaths, before you STABBED them in the back. Would my parents really want to leave me with a murderer?"

"LISTEN HERE-"

"NO! I WILL not listen to a WORD from YOU Black. I don't want to be here. I don't want anything to do with you. You killed my parents, and left me an orphan, and then you pretend to CARE? Leave me the hell alone." Harry ran up the stairs, stomping as much as possible.

"COME BACK HERE-" Before Sirius could finish his statement, Remus came back into the house, and gave Sirius a confused look.

"What's happening Padfoot? Did I hear Harry yelling in here?"

Sirius nodded. "He has to believe me Moony, he has to," he said in a defeated voice. Remus felt for his friend. It had been a long time since he had seen him look so…hopeless.

"He'll come around eventually Padfoot, you'll see." The werewolf said, vowing to himself that by the end of the summer he would win Harry over, because if he didn't, he was pretty sure that it would be the death of his best friend.

'I wont lose another friend,' he thought. 'I'll stop at nothing short of the imperious to make Harry come around…'

_AN- Thank you for all the wonderful reviews from the last chapter. I hope you like this one. Hopefully it cleared up all the confusion in the Remus/Sirius situation. But in case it did not, yes, Remus knows that Sirius is innocent, and he lied to Harry because Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley don't know that he is convinced that Sirius is innocent. Remember he is their "spy." Congratulations to EcScaper, who understood all the subtly that I put into that flashback in the last chapter. So, once again, thank you for all the wonderful reviews, and don't hesitate to e-mail or ask questions in your reviews, because I want to make sure that everything is clear!_

And now some more enticement… 

"_As soon as you left the Leaky Cauldron Hermione, Fred, George, and I started coming up with a plan to rescue you, just like last year from the Dursleys."_

"I'll think about it, on one condition."

"But he didn't eat it, no one was harmed!"

"Where's Remus?" He demanded, panicking at seeing only his godfather sitting at the table, and a table setting for two.

'I win,' Sirius thought.


	7. 15 Explosions

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter Seven: 15 Explosions

_Harry-_

_We are all worried about you in Black's house, how are you doing mate? Is he feeding you? It doesn't really matter, because if you he isn't you'll get food soon enough. As soon as you left the Leaky Cauldron Hermione, Fred, George, and I started coming up with a plan to rescue you, just like last year from the Dursleys. Unfortunately, this time we can't get a hold of a flying car, but we have managed to work something else out for Tuesday at 11 o'clock at night. Do you think that you can get out? Fred and George said that they could send you a treat to make Black sleep if you think it will be a problem. Anyway, we don't want to give too much of the plan away in case this letter is taken by Black, but be prepared with your Nimbus 2000 and trunk at 11 on Tuesday. Hope you can hang on till then mate!_

_-Ron_

_PS- When this owl didn't reach you first, we made sure to give this to Dad, but in case you read this before he leaves, know that he doesn't know about this plan. DO NOT TELL HIM, Mum would kill us._

Harry stared at the letter for a good ten minutes. He knew that Ron and the others would come around for him! Today was Saturday, he could hold on for at least three days. Harry was beginning to worry, even though he had only been here for a couple hours, that he would never be able to leave. There was a knock on Harry's door.

Quickly, he stuffed the letter into the top drawer of his bedside table. The knock came again.

"Harry, can I come in?" It was Lupin. Harry was very relieved.

"Yeah."

Remus came in. "That was some fight you had with Sirius there, we could hear you outside."

Harry didn't say anything. The werewolf came over to the bed. "Look, Harry I think you should know that Black isn't completely stable in the head. He truly believes that he is innocent. Something after the murder made him lose his marbles, if you know what I mean…"

"But he KILLED my parents."

"Shh, you don't want him to hear you. I know that, the Minister knows that, and so does Dumbledore. But as of right now, I need you to know that Black has no intention of hurting you. You have to be more careful around him. You wont know what will set him off."

"But-"

"No buts about it Harry. I'm here to protect you from him, but I can't be here 24 hours a day."

Harry's eyes widened. "You're leaving?"

"I don't want to, but I have other things that I have to take care. Now I will be here most days, but at the end of this month I have some business that I have to take care of, and I wont be able to be in the house with you. That is what I was talking to the Minister about."

'Good thing I'll be long gone by then,' Harry thought to himself. But he couldn't help but be mad at this man. Remus knew what Black had done, and he was just going to leave Harry defenseless?

As if he had read the Boy-Who-Lived thoughts Remus said, "You won't be alone Harry. Arthur has arranged for you to spend the night at the Burrow that night, with your friends. You're lucky that your birthday happens to fall at the end of the month. Harry's heart soared. He was going to get to see Ron! But then he thought of something.

"But what about Black?"

Remus chuckled. "Don't worry about Sirius, I'll convince him."

Harry, however, didn't look convinced.

"But-"

"If you trust me Harry, then you have nothing to worry about. Do you trust me?"

Harry was silent for a moment. "I think I do."

Remus practically glowed. "Good, now why don't you stay here and rest until dinner is ready. I'll go talk to Sirius.

III

"Absolutely not," Sirius stated in his most stubborn voice.

"But Padfoot-" Remus started.

"I said no, and as Harry's guardian I get the final say in these things. I'm not letting Arthur Weasley within five feet of my godson. If his offspring wants to see Harry so badly they can visit here."

"Now Sirius, you know that-"

"Exactly the point, their father wouldn't trust me with his precious children, so I don't trust him with Harry."

"The difference here is that the Minster doesn't need to gain the trust of his children, while you do need to get Harry to trust you."

It was a low blow, and Remus was fully aware of this.

"And do you really think that this one action will win Harry over?" Sirius asked with a bark of a laugh in his voice. "I don't think so, if anything it would remind him of how much he hates it here. The answer is still no." Sirius began to walk out of the room.

"You shouldn't be worrying about what would happen if you did let him go, you should be thinking about his reaction if you say no." Remus said quietly, stopping his friend half way out the door. "It would give him further reason to hate you, it could destroy any chance of a good relationship between you two. This could be a start Sirius. It may not win him over completely, but it would be a start."

Sirius still didn't say anything. "I need you to do this Sirius, you need to do it for yourself, but also for Harry. Harry needs a strong adult in his life. Do you want that to be you or Arthur Weasley?" Sirius knew that Remus was right, hell Remus was always right. He sighed.

"I'll think about it, on one condition."

"And what's that?"

Sirius grinned.

III

A couple days passed. Harry spent the majority of his time hiding in his room, only coming out for meals. It was really the only safe time that Harry had discovered. Remus often went out during the day, only returning at meal times to "make sure that Sirius didn't poison both himself and Harry with his cooking." Sirius, of course, realized that this was an insult to his cooking skills, or lack-there-of, while Harry took it as a precaution on his life. Which amused Remus further.

"You sure about this Padfoot?" Remus asked.

Sirius scowled. "You promised Moony, this was my one condition."

The fore-mentioned werewolf raised his hands in self-defense. "I'm just checking, now what are you doing for dinner? Do you want me to make something before-"

"I'm not THAT bad at cooking Remus! Name one incident that I've caused anyone any physical harm by cooking dinner."

"Well there was that time in our 6th year when you somehow managed to convince the house-elves to let you make you special stew, which boiled over, exploding half the kitchens and causing the great food shortage of 1976, landing three house-elves in the hospital wing-"

Sirius waved his hand impatiently. "I was 16 then, mistakes made while in Hogwarts don't count, name one time when I was an _adult_ that I've hurt someone making food."

Remus gave his friend a skeptical look. "Since when have you ever been an adult?"

"You know what I mean, anything after the age of 18."

"Fine, at James' bachelor party all you had to do, as far as food prep, was make the popcorn. That was it, and you decided to use a "special" spell that resulted in the kernels popping and unpopping again and again while in your stomach, and James ended up having to spend the night at St. Mungos-"

"Pfft, I was drunk from the firewhiskey, that _you_ provided, so it doesn't count."

Remus rolled his eyes, "And then there was that time when Harry was a baby, and you were babysitting and you had to make porridge for him, but you decided to make it- interesting- as usual, I believe that the exact statement was 'Harry needs some flavor in his life,' and you somehow managed to make a mild poison, that would have killed Harry as soon as he swallowed it."

"But he didn't eat it, no one was harmed!"

"No, he didn't eat it, but he threw it all over the kitchen, causing James to slip and fall and crack his head open on the kitchen floor."

"But-"

"You have caused a total of 15 explosions and landing 10 different people in the hospital or the hospital wing 25 times, because of what you have the gall to call cooking."

Sirius frowned, "I thought it was only 14 explosions?"

"You always forget the time you made your way into the kitchens at the Three Broomsticks, because you knocked yourself out for three days."

"Oh right!" Sirius looked as though he was thinking very hard. "Maybe I'll carry out."

"That sounds like an excellent idea."

III

"DINNER TIME," a voice belted from downstairs. Harry groaned. He had just finished his Charm's essay, and had lost track of time. The only thing worse than having to have dinner with his godfather was not having proper time to mentally prepare for having dinner with his godfather. Reluctantly, Harry got up from the desk to go downstairs, taking as much time as possible to delay the inevitable. What he found at the entrance of the kitchen made him stop short.

"Where's Remus?" He demanded, panicking at seeing only his godfather sitting at the table, and a table setting for two.

Sirius chuckled, "He had some things to take care of at home, and I thought it would be nice for the two of us to spend some time together without him."

Harry's eyes widened. He had no clue how he was going to survive a dinner with just Black. His gaze shifted to the door of the kitchen.

"I-I'm not really hungry, I'll just-"

"Sit down Harry," Sirius said in his most commanding voice to his godson's retreating back. Harry was so stunned at the tone of voice that he obeyed, not saying a word as he sat at the table.

"Now that Remus is gone, we can finally eat something good. I ordered some pizza, which I am pleased to say, has no nutritional value what-so-ever." Harry still said nothing, but carefully took a piece of pizza from the center of the table and began nibbling. He didn't think that Black would dare poison him with the Ministry so close at hand, and Harry was quite hungry. "Now, you have been here for three days Harry, and I realize that I know very little about you. I know that you are in Gryffindor and your best friend is the Minister of Magic's son, what's the story behind that?" Silence. "Fine, if not your red-haired friend, what about that girl with the bushy brown hair, is she your girlfriend?" Harry chocked on his pizza, and shook his head quickly. "No, well if you don't want to discuss your friends, I'm afraid there is another very important topic I must discuss with you."

Harry ignored him.

"You see Harry, when a man and a woman love each other very much…"

A panicked look crossed the raven-haired boy's face. "I- no- I-I-already-"

"Already Harry?" Sirius said with glee. "But you're about to turn 13! Why, it took your father and I at least until we were 15 to try to go that far with a girl-"

"No!" Harry shouted, beet red now. "I know about-about _that_ already."

"Oh good, than we can go straight to talking technique, now young Harry, girls- it is girls right? Not that it matters to me, make whatever life choice you like- but I know about girls, and well they don't like it when-"

Harry leaped up from his seat. "I-I just remembered that I forgot that I…got to go," he breathed before running out the kitchen.

Sirius grinned. The evening may not have gone as planned, but at least he had the upper hand by the end of the night. Oh, he couldn't wait to tell Remus about Harry's face, when realization had struck. 'I win,' Sirius thought.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- I hope you all liked this chapter, now some review responses:

illachi- Remus doesn't know Harry well enough to tell him something like that. He might in the future. He's only known Harry for a couple of days, he's not going to tell his biggest secret to someone he has known for that period of time.

Sirius Fan- Thanks for your review, I'll try to fix that, I don't always correct things well if Word doesn't correct it.

lucerito-del-alma- Scabbers ran away, Remus couldn't see him.

Harmony'sSake- Only Remus knows that Sirius is innocent, and well, Peter too, but that's it.

But really, thank to you everyone who reviewed!

Tidbits from Chapter Eight: Of Flyings and Kidnappings

"_A good two hours. Two hours Moony! I got him to talk to me for two hours!"_

"_George and I nicked it when we went to visit Dad at work."_

"_Yeah, but I'm loads better now. Thanks for once again rescuing me."_

"…_but before he could go further into the woods something, or rather, someone came out first. "Uh oh."_


	8. Flying and Kidnappings

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter Eight: Flying and Kidnappings

After the episode at dinner, Harry would have been happy to stay in his room for the remainder of the evening, actually, he would have been happy staying in his room for the rest of the month, to avoid that type of embarrassment again. And he would have stayed there, polishing his broom with the new broom-stick servicing kit Hermione had given him as an early birthday present, if it weren't for the fact that his godfather had to intervene, only about half an hour after dinner. Sirius knocked on the door and asked, "Can I come in?"

Harry scoffed. "I don't know _can _you?" Sirius ignored the hostile tone and entered the room.

"Look Harry, I'm sorry about dinner, you just were being impossible, and well, I thought I might as well have some fun. Really the look on your face was priceless when-" Harry sent his godfather a glare that was usually only reserved for Voldemort, Snape, and Malfoy.

Sirius got the hint and stood there with the awkward silence for a few moments. "I see you have your own broom, do you play Quidditch?" He wasn't surprised at the lack of response. "I mean, of course you play Quidditch, probably a natural at it just like James." Sirius frowned slightly, before his eyes started to shine brightly. "You know we have a little Quidditch Pitch outside, it'll be light out for a couple more hours, if you want to play…"

"Where?" Harry asked earnestly. Sirius grinned.

"Just out back, I'm kind-of surprised that you haven't found it yet. Although I suppose if you spend all your time in your room sulking you miss out on your surroundings." The youngest Quidditch player in a century, took no notice of the words of his godfather, and started heading out to look for the pitch. "Harry wait!"

Harry stopped, "What?"

"Wait for me, I don't want you going outside alone, plus I haven't played since…well not for a long time, I'll join you." Harry was too happy about the prospect of being able to practice Quidditch during the summer to truly be bothered by the idea of having to spend more time with his godfather. He couldn't wait to see the look on Oliver's face after being able to spend summer training for the upcoming season.

III

"Great dive Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, watching his godson pull off a spectacular move on his broomstick. "You're a natural just like you're father."

Harry grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah, James made it on to the Quidditch team in his 2nd year, which is rare, he beat some 6th years at try outs. He was made Captain in his 5th year. Did you make the Gryffindor team?"

"In my first year," Harry bragged, forgetting who he was talking to.

"Really? With McGonnagal as the Head of House?"

"Yeah, see my friend fell of his broom during our first class, and while Madame Hooch was taking him to the hospital wing Malfoy-"

"Son of Lucius?"

"That's him, Draco Malfoy. He stole Neville's rememberall and was going to put it up someplace high, and I decided to save it. When I went after him, Malfoy threw the rememberall down, and just as I caught it McGonnagal comes running out yelling at me. I was so terrified, I thought that I was going to be expelled, but instead she took me to meet Oliver Wood, the Quidditch captain. Later, this broom arrived, and the look on Malfoy's face was priceless when I told him that not only did I make the team and not get expelled, but I had the best broom on the market, the Nimbus 2000." Sirius was very much enjoying this new side to his godson.

"You know, there was a time that James challenged Snape to a broom race in 3rd year-"

"Severus Snape?"

"Yeah, although your dad and I preferred to call him Snivellus. Do you know him?"

Harry laughed. "He's my potions professor, he hates me."

"Who let that greasy git become a teacher? Ugg, I am truly sorry for you Harry, it was bad enough having to be in school with him. Anyway with the broom race, Snape didn't know that James had cursed his broom before and-" Sirius happily told the story and the two of them spent the next hour talking about Harry's adventures at Hogwarts, as well as those of his father's. They might have continued for longer if a voice came from the doorway of the house.

"And here I thought that you two would have killed each other by this time, what brought about this sudden change?" Remus asked amused. Harry froze immediately. Here he was talking happily with the man who was responsible for the death of his parents, and Harry had completely forgotten. How had he forgotten? All of sudden he felt ill.

"Its late, I better go to bed." Harry said quietly before flying to the ground and going up to his room. Sirius frowned, also landing on the ground.

"Why'd you have to interrupt Remus?" He asked, scowling at his friend as they walked into the kitchen.

"Well its half after 10, I thought that it might be good for Harry to get to sleep."

"Really? Its 10:30?"

"Yeah, how long were you two out there?"

"A good two hours. Two hours Moony! I got him to talk to me for two hours!"

"That's great Padfoot. You're finally getting him to open up a bit. What did you guys talk about?"

Sirius was grinning from ear to ear. "We talked about everything! From the time he got onto the Quidditch team, to the pranks that we played on Snape. Did you know that he made the team in his first year? It's incredible! Also Dumbledore is officially cracked, Snape is a teacher at Hogwarts. Did you know that?"

Remus smiled slightly. "I did, who do you think has been making my Wolfsbane potion these last couple of years?"

"That was Snape? You never told me that."

"You never asked. I'm really happy for you Sirius, but I think that I better go to sleep its late. Do you mind if I crash in the guest room again?"

Sirius waved his friend off. "Of course not. Moony he talked to me! Actually talking, not just grunting! This may work out after all." Remus grinned.

"That's great Sirius. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sirius just couldn't keep smiling. He hadn't been this happy in a very long time, it was like having Lily and James back. Because Harry was a perfect combination of the two. He had James' Quidditch abilities and Lily's sense of humor. Finally, things were going well.

III

Harry was panicking. He had just spent two hours talking to his godfather. His murdering, back-stabber, evil godfather. And he had enjoyed it! Harry had never felt more awful, conspiring with the man who was responsible for the death of his parents and countless others, no doubt. As terrible as this was a small part of him wanted what he had had to those two hours again. Trading stories about his parents. No one had ever given him so much information about them before. He had not known why Snape had hated his father, or vice versa. And the pranks that his dad has pulled with his friends!

Later he would have to have Sirius- there he went again. Actually _wanting _to talk to the betrayer of his parents. Harry shuddered. He had to get out here. He looked down at his watch. It was 10:10 on Tuesday. _It was 10:10 on Tuesday!_ 'Damn it,' Harry thought. In spending time with Black he had nearly forgotten that tonight was the night that Ron was coming to get him. And he hadn't even started packing yet, because he didn't want to make Remus or Black suspicious. Frantically The-Boy-Who-Lived dragged his trunk out of the closet and started throwing stuff into. He stopped suddenly when there was a knock on the door.

"Harry can I come in?" It was Remus.

"Umm, one second." Harry, instead of throwing the book in his hand in the trunk he took it to the bed and quickly lay down. "Come in." As Remus opened the door Harry tried to make it look like he was marking the place in his book.

"Good book? You're more like Lily than I thought. James was never much of a reader."

"It's a fine book. Do you need something?" Remus looked slightly hurt at the harshness of this comment.

"No, I just heard you had a good time with Sirius tonight, and I wanted to congratulate you on being able to keep your temper in check." Harry grunted in acknowledgment.

"Remus, I'm really tired. Would you mind if we talked about this in the morning?"

"No, not at all. Goodnight Harry." Remus left the room, wondering what was going on with that boy, and why he was reading _The Standard Book of Spells (Year 1)_ for bedtime reading. The werewolf shrugged. Maybe Harry was more studious than he had originally thought…

Harry waited a good five minutes after Remus had left before he cautiously got out of his bed, and started packing again. It took him until five to 11 to get all his stuff packed up. It was times like these that he wished that magic were allowed during the summer. There was a tap on the window. Harry grinned and went over and opened the window. There, on his balcony, was one of the Weasley twins, grinning.

"How'd you get up here?" Harry asked, whispering so not to be heard.

"By flying carpet of course!" The twin answered in a whisper as well. Sure enough beneath his feet was a beautiful Persian rug. "George and I nicked it when we went to visit Dad at work." Harry was impressed, and happy that he now knew that the twin was Fred, avoiding embarrassment. "Should we go then?" Fred asked.

"Of course, my trunk's just here. Be careful its heavy," Harry advised when Fred started dragging the trunk over to the carpet.

"You're going to have to follow behind on your broom, while we go to meet George and Ron a little further away. This carpet will only carry me and your trunk."

"What about Ron and George then?" Harry asked. Fred grinned.

"You'll see." Harry couldn't help be slightly afraid at the twinkle in Fred's eyes, he had seen that look before, and nothing good ever came from that look. The two flew for about ten minutes before arriving to a wooded area, where Ron was waiting for them at the entrance.

"Still in one piece mate?" He asked as Harry landed on the ground. Harry grinned.

"Yeah, but I'm loads better now. Thanks for once again rescuing me." Ron waved his thanks off.

"As if you hadn't saved me once or twice by now. Although, I think that we are even after this. You know Hermione is beside herself with worry. We had to use her and Ginny as a distraction for Mum." As he was talking Fred lead the two friends to a clearing in the woods, where he turned around and faced the two younger boys and grinned.

"Here we are, we made it. George, reveal the tent!" Fred exclaimed. Nothing happened, Harry looked very bewildered. "GEORGE!" Still nothing, so Fred decided to go investigate the matter, but before he could go further into the woods something, or rather, someone came out first. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh is right," said a fuming Sirius Black, holding George by the back of his collar. "Let's see the amount of charges I have on you three boys: breaking and entering; illegal possession of a portal floo and flying carpet, oh and attempted kidnapping of the Boy-Who-Lived. What will your Daddy think?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- Once again thank you for all your wonderful reviews. This is the last of the "light" chapters I'm afraid, it gets very serious (and not in the joke form, this is the only point where I will even bring up that overused joke).

But I do want to address the issue of Remus, some of you love him, some of you hate him. Both is ok, I appreciate everyone's views, but I figured I should give you my take on him. EsScaper said it well in this review: "Since Sirius didn't get imprisoned in this version, Remus wasn't left alone and grieving. He would be more confident. In addition, he'd be more cynical about the Ministry's ethics. After all he does know that Sirius was innocent and that they wanted nothing more than to throw an innocent man into the hellish existence of Azkaban."

EsScaper read my mind in the approach to this fic. Remember in the books we never get to see much interaction between Remus and Sirius. Actually we don't see much of Remus other than in the 3rd book. Which makes him an interesting character. Don't forget, he was a Marauder, and unlike in other fanfics, I like to think that he wasn't the Hermione of the group. He may have been smart, and calmer than the others, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't just as mischievous and ready to break the rules. But that's just my point of view, you are more than welcome to disagree.

Valerie- There isn't a competition between Remus and Sirius for Harry's affection. Sirius is jealous, but he understands why, and hopes to build a similar relationship with Harry in the future. But there is no malice towards Sirius in Remus' actions. Maybe he's being selfish, but he's a person too, and he was good friends with Lily and James too, and wants to know their son. About Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley, they aren't supposed to be bad characters. You didn't hate them in the 3rd book did you? They **truly** believe that Sirius is the bad guy, and they want to protect Harry. They aren't trying to manipulate Harry for their own benefits, like I've seen in other fics, but they do want him to be safe, and they could be mislead in their belief. Hopefully that helps with your frustration. They are basically the same characters as in the books.

SiriusFan- I like this Remus too, I get really frustrated with fics that make him super mild mannered and calm. He IS human! Thanks for the review.

LiliacBookstar- Don't worry, I actually know exactly where this story is going, and it may seem hopeless now, but there is a happy ending. (hint hint, wink wink)

And now, after the longest AN ever, for a preview of Chapter Nine: Busted

"_NOW! OR SO HELP ME MERLIN I WILL MAKE YOU COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND EASTER JUST SO THAT I CAN CONTINUE THIS GROUNDING!" _

"_He still believes that Pettigrew is alive?"_

"_I think that I will just let that Weasley fellow have 'im. Tha's where he wants to be…""_

"_Sirius Black, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Harry Potter…"_


	9. Busted

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter 9: Busted

"_What will your Daddy think?" _

"He'll think that we did what we could to protect our friend from the likes of _you_." Fred said, whipping out his wand and pointing it at Black.

"Let him go," he said in a threatening voice, indicating to his twin, while Ron stepped protectively in front of a rather terrified, but defiant, Harry.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus stepped out from behind Sirius. Everyone's wands flew into his waiting hand. He looked at Sirius with a stoic look on his face but Harry could tell that Remus was quite angry. "I'll take these boys home to their parents, why don't you take Harry back up to the house." The werewolf said, handing his friend two of the wands.

"But-" Ron started. Sirius whipped around to face the boy.

"But what?" He asked in a harsh voice.

Ron was able to build up his Gryffindor courage in order to say, "Harry doesn't want to live with you. He wants to come to the Burrow with us. Hell, I think that he would even prefer to live with the Dursleys than to live with you!"

"Is that so?" Sirius sneered. "Well then it is a good thing that he doesn't have a choice does he? _I'm_ his legal guardian, and I get to say where he lives and who he lives with. And rest assured, because of this Harry will never step foot into your house again."

"You can't do that!" Harry exclaimed, coming out of his shocked silence.

"I can and I will, you are also forbidden to contact anyone with the name of Weasley while you stay in my house. In fact-"

"Sirius," Remus interrupted, "just take Harry back to the house." Sirius didn't argue. He shrunk Harry's trunk and grabbed the back of his godson's shirt, forcing him in the direction of the house. Harry turned around briefly and waved goodbye to the Weasleys, not sure if he would ever see them again. Black looked as though he could kill Harry at any moment. Actually, The-Boy-Who-Lived was surprised that he survived the twenty-minute walk back up to the house, a firm (almost painful) hand guided him in silence the entire way.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" Black yelled as soon as he had pushed his godson into the house.

"I was-"

"I DON'T WANT AN ANSWER! I know what you were thinking, you were thinking that you could go and run off with your little friends and live happily ever after. YOU WERE WRONG. You're mother and father left it up to me to take care of you after they died. LILY AND JAMES wanted you here."

"That's before you murdered them," Harry muttered under his breath.

Immediately after he spoke, he knew that that might not have been the smartest thing to say. Black turned bright red and was, if possible, even more angry.

"You know NOTHING of what happened that night. You know nothing of your parents."

"Thanks to you! It's _your_ fault that I never knew my parents."

"No, it's yours Harry James Potter. Voldemort wasn't interested in your parents, he couldn't care less about Lily and James, he wanted you. YOUR PARENTS DIED FOR YOU, not that you deserve it. You disrespect their wishes for you. James would have been very disappointed in you."

Harry felt as though he had been slapped in the face. How dare this-this _Voldemort supporter_ tell him that he disappointed his parents? Sirius took advantage of Harry's stunned silence.

"From now on, you will listen to me. Now for the little _adventure_ that you had tonight-" Harry came out of his stupor.

"What? WHAT? What are you going to do to me that you have already done? You've taken me from my friends, and you killed my parents what else can you possibly do? Kill me? No one would be shocked, and then you would get what you deserved all those years ago, a nice long stay in Azkaban."

"WHAT WILL I DO? I-I- HARRY JAMES POTTER YOU ARE NOW GROUNDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!"

"Grounded?" Harry laughed. Never before in his life had he been _grounded_, the Dursleys never gave him any privileges that could be taken away from him.

"That's right mister. Grounded. For the rest of the summer, and maybe even next summer you will not be allowed to owl ANYONE without my express permission. You will not receive any mail either that I have not checked. So I expect the only letter that you will be allowed to read will be your Hogwarts letter, that will come in a couple of weeks. You will not fly, and as of now, your broom is mine. Maybe, if you're lucky, you can have it back at the end of the summer. Any more incidents like this, and I wont allow you to play for your house team. No more leaving this house you will spend all your time in your room- no scratch that. You will spend every minute of the day, under my careful supervision. You won't leave a room without my permission. IS THIS CLEAR?"

By this point, Harry was white with rage. He was so angry that he couldn't even speak.

"Good, now that you have an understanding of how the rest of the summer is going to be, you are to go to your room and stay there until I come and get you in the morning. I've already placed heavy wards on your windows and door so if you even walk too close to them, I will know."

"But-"

"NOW! OR SO HELP ME MERLIN I WILL MAKE YOU COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND EASTER JUST SO THAT I CAN CONTINUE THIS GROUNDING!"

Harry went up to his room as quickly as he could.

III

"Arthur? Molly?" Remus called into the Burrow, three teenaged boys standing reluctantly behind them.

"Remus is that you?" Molly came running into the front room. "The boys are missing! Hermione and Ginny know something but they won't tell us and we just called Dumble-"

"Calm down Molly, they're here with me-"

"They are? Oh my babies! We were so worried! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I THOUGHT YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON LAST YEAR! IF YOU EVER-"

Remus silently snuck away to find Arthur and Dumbledore now that he knew that the Weasley boys were, well maybe not safely, but in their mother's custody. He found the two men in the kitchen.

"Ah, Remus," Dumbledore greeted. "What brings you here at this time of night?"

"I found your sons Arthur, and was returning them here."

"You did? Where were they?" Arthur was clearly very worried about them.

"Actually I didn't find them, Sirius did. On his property, about ready to whisk Harry off."

Both of the older men winced.

"Is Harry alright?" Dumbledore asked with a lot of concern in his voice.

"He's fine, a bit shaken up. Sirius Black does have quite a temper. Not that I can really blame him in this case, what were the boys thinking? Running off in the middle of the night, especially with Harry-"

"But everyone is alright?" The Minister of Magic interrupted with urgency. "Do I need to send Aurors?" Remus shook his head.

"No, I think that all will be well." There was silence for a couple of seconds.

"This is actually an excellent opportunity Remus, the Minister and I were

going to call a meeting with you soon anyway. We were wondering how the situation was."

"As good as anyone could ask it to be, well before tonight. Harry spends most of his time in his room and Sirius spends his time on a fruitless search for a dead man."

"He still believes that Pettigrew is alive?"

"Yes, and I can't seem to dissuade him from that notion. He searches endlessly I truly believe that he is mad. Harmless most of the time, though."

"And he doesn't suspect you?"

"He has no clue, I think that he is too preoccupied with Pettigrew and Harry now to really focus on me."

"Good news my boy, good news. I think it is time that we let the poor Minister have some rest now." Remus nodded.

"I better make sure that my wife hasn't killed our sons yet," Arthur chuckled. "She better have left some of it up to me. Continue to keep a close watch Remus, if there is even a slight sign of Harry being in danger, floo here immediately."

"I will do that. Goodnight Minister, Headmaster." An exhausted Remus went to the fireplace to make sure that Sirius hadn't killed Harry yet because, as Arthur had said, he wanted to do his fair share of yelling at the boy.

III

Remus came out of the fireplace, realizing that it had taken him an hour to get the Weasley boys safely back at home. He hoped that Sirius hadn't throttled the boy to death by now, but the werewolf certainly wouldn't blame him if he had. He was about to head upstairs to go check on Harry, and give him a piece of his mind when he heard loud laughter from the kitchen. Surprised, he walked towards the room.

"Hahaha Prongs, I remember that too! And then…then…then there was that thing in the place with the you know- MOONY!" Sirius was sitting on a stool in the kitchen talking to a bottle when Remus entered the room.

"Sirius are you alright?" The werewolf asked with concern in his voice.

"I-m excellent! Good ole' Prongs and I were just talking about the thing in the place you know with that guy and the hair-"

Remus looked at the bottle and then at Sirius. "Are you drunk?"

"Naw, naw, I just a little fire whiskey, I'm not drunk, but why don't you stop moving Moony?" Sirius said taking another swig was the bottle, which was nearly empty. "Hey, where did James go? D-did he leave again? I needed to talk to him about his son- you know- black hair green eyes what's his name Barry-?"

"Harry, Sirius, Harry, you wanted to talk to James about Harry?"

"That's it! Harry…hehe hairy Harry. He don' like me Rem and and I gotta fix it…" The look on Sirius' face made Remus feel as though there was a dementor in the room. He looked so…hopeless. Something that Remus had never seen in his best friend, not even right after Lily and James died.

"Oh, Sirius, don't worry about Harry. He just doesn't understand-"

"No, no, no, he understands. He knows he knows…"

"What does he know?"

"He knows that I killed James n' Lily he knows that I trusted that rat faced boy, he knows that I was too much of a cow-coward to-" The almost-convict was sobbing now.

"No, its not your fault you know that-"

"NO!" Sirius shouted, interrupting. "I did it. I killed 'em. That's, that's, that's why the kid hates me. He should! I think that I will just let that Weasley fellow have 'im. Tha's where he wants to be…" He finished off the bottle and then promptly passed out.

III

Harry woke up late the next morning, as he had been unable to get to sleep until very late at night. He had been thinking about what Black had said. Had he, Harry, indeed been responsible for the death of his parents? Dumbledore had only ever told Harry that Voldemort was coming after his parents, he had never mentioned the fact that Voldemort wanted Harry. The-Boy-Who-Lived thought that his parents were just as much as a target as anyone else during the war, with this thought, he felt like he was going to throw up. A knock on his bedroom door did not improve the feeling in Harry's stomach. Before he could respond, the door opened.

"Harry?" Remus entered the room. The aforementioned boy felt great relief.

"Remus! I was so worried that-"

"I know what you were worried about," he said sternly. "And before you think any different, I think you made a serious mistake last night young man. Don't think for a second that because I'm here that your punishment has changed in any way. Sirius is a bit…indisposed…at the moment, so he sent me here to come and get you."

Harry's heart sunk. It was then that he realized that Remus just might blame him for the death of his parents as well. "Now Harry, it is time to go eat some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." Harry muttered.

Remus got stern again. "I don't care if you are hungry or not Harry James, you are to come downstairs to the kitchen. Sirius says that you must be either with him or I at all times. Except when you're in here for the night, with the door and windows locked." Harry didn't even bother to argue, he knew that there was no point. He followed Remus downstairs to the kitchen, where he was very surprised to see his godfather already sitting at the table, looking horrible.

"Would you like some more bacon Sirius?" Remus asked in a pleasant voice. Sirius glared at his friend and grunted in reply. "I'll take that as a yes then. Harry, there are some muffins on the table and pumpkin juice in the refrigerator, I expect you to eat something. That goes for you as well Padfoot."

Had it been a less serious situation, the identical looks of hatred on godson and godfather would have been hilarious. Breakfast was a silent affair, all three lost in private thoughts. Remus couldn't help but notice that there was something different about Harry this morning. It was more than just the attempted escape and the punishment that had followed afterwards. Something was…broken…inside of Harry, in the same way as Sirius. He guessed that something that had happened last night had triggered this depression in Harry. The werewolf wasn't sure what he would do with these two broken boys. When breakfast was over and still no one had said anything, Remus decided to take control of the day. "Harry, why don't you go get your homework and work on it down here."

Harry just nodded and left to go get his homework. As soon as he was out of the room, Remus turned to his friend. "Are you alright Sirius?"

"Peachy. Do you have a hangover potion? I have the worse headache in the world."

Sympathetically Remus said, "No, I'm sorry. Just drink the rest of that coffee, and hopefully you'll feel better a little later. Look Sirius what did you say-"

Harry had arrived in the kitchen with his books at that moment, stopping Remus mid sentence. There was an awkward pause. "So Harry, what homework do you have to finish?" Remus asked to break the silence.

"Not much, I finished most at the Dursleys." Harry muttered.

"Well that's excellent, your mother would be very proud-" Remus noticed that Harry tensed up at the mention of his mother. "Is there something wrong Harry?" The Boy-Who-Lived shrugged. "What do you have left for homework then?"

"Just transfiguration and potions." Remus winced slightly.

"Not my two best subjects. But you know Sirius and your father were somewhat of transfiguration hotshots back in their day. So he can help you with that, and I think that I can handle third year potions, but any higher than that I think you'll be out of luck kid."

And that is how the day passed. Harry, Sirius, and Remus sat in the kitchen working on Harry's homework. It was a solemn afternoon, but at least Harry had been able to finish the rest of his essays. He had no clue what they would do tomorrow with all his work already done.

"Time for bed Harry," Remus said in a stern voice, looking at his best friend who had barely said a word all day. The werewolf would worry about talking to Sirius after Harry had gone to bed. The two headed upstairs to Harry's bedroom. Remus was making sure that Harry would be safely in his room for the rest of the night. Just before he could close the door Harry spoke.

"Is it true that Voldemort only came after my parents because of me?"

Remus' heart broke. "NO! Harry what made you think-" Then it hit him. Sirius. Sirius was the one who had brought that broken look to Harry's—no Lily's eyes today. "Harry, you are not responsible for your parents death, I need you to know that. Voldemort went after all on the light side, no one was safe," he said quickly. "Do you believe me Harry?" There was urgency in the werewolf's voice.

Harry just shrugged. "We'll continue this in the morning…now I have something to take care of. Goodnight Harry." Remus shut the door, locked it and ran downstairs, where Sirius was sitting in front of the fireplace.

"What did you say to Harry last night Sirius?" Remus asked in a dangerous voice. Sirius seemed surprised at the tone of the voice that his friend took with him. Remus rarely got angry.

"I just-" An alarm sound in the room, interrupting him. "Harry." He said simply. Remus sighed.

"Already? Got to give those Weasley boys some credit for their determination. This conversation isn't over Sirius, but you better go make sure that Harry is alright, and I'll go to the Burrow and get Arthur."

The almost-convict nodded and started jogging up the stairs towards his godson's bedroom. As he reached the door he hesitated for a second. Maybe he should just let Harry go with the Weasleys. He would be happier there. Sirius was about to turn around when he heard a small yelp from the room. It sounded as though there was a struggle inside. Sirius burst through the door.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" A voice yelled. Sirius' wand shot from his hand to the feet of…

"Pettigrew."

Sure enough there, which a wand to Harry's throat was Peter Pettigrew, the man that Sirius had been hunting for the last eleven year.

"D-don't come a step closer S-Sirius, or I'll have to hurt Potter here." Sirius froze immediately.

"Let him go Peter," he said in a hard voice, "he's never done anything to you."

"I-I don't think I w-will Padfoot ole friend," Pettigrew said in a mocking voice. On the other side of his wand, Sirius could see the terrified look on his godson's face. Pettigrew must have put a silencing spell on him. "You see Potter is responsible for my last eleven years in exile, I thought that after I framed you for Lily and James' death I w-would be free. B-but you wouldn't leave me alone Sirius, I had to keep running and h-hiding. Tonight that ends."

"What do you want?" Sirius asked in a voice that was almost pleading. "Just let Harry go and we can talk…" He said stepping a little closer to his former friend. Pettigrew tightened his grip on Harry, whose eyes went wide after Pettigrew had spoken.

"N-no. Y-you stay where you are. If you want me to let your p-precious P-Potter go you're going to have to do something for me."

"What?" Sirius growled.

"Y-you have to t-turn yourself in Sirius. I can't keep living l-like this. Y-you need to-" Before he could finish talking Sirius made a very bold move. He lunged at Pettigrew and wrestled the wand out of his hand.

Pettigrew yelped in surprise, releasing his grip on Harry, who landed with a 'thump' on the floor. However, Sirius wasn't able to reach his godson in time. Pettigrew grabbed Sirius' wand that had been on the floor, and pulled a knife from his jacket. It was almost in slow motion. He plunged the knife into Harry's stomach and than disapperated. Sirius ran to his fallen, and now unconscious and bloody godson. He pulled the knife out of Harry's stomach and tried to stop the bleeding.

"HARRY!" He yelled in desperation. "HARRY! You have to be alright, you can't leave me too, oh Harry-" He pulled The-Boy-Who-Lived to his chest. There was a faint 'pop' but Sirius didn't notice, he was too busy trying to heal Harry's wound with his shirt.

"Dear god what happened here?" A horrified voice said from behind Sirius, who was still clutching to Harry. "Get away from him!" The voice said. Sirius ignored the voice and continued talking to Harry.

"Come on Harry, I know you can do it," he was crying now. "COME ON HARRY!"

"Sirius Black, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Harry Potter…"

"HARRY! Wake up!"

"Stupefy!"

Everything went black.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- That was exciting wasn't it? HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! I posted this a day early, just so that I could give this to you, the longest of all chapters, on Halloween. It seems right doesn't it? Anyway, there is no preview for the next chapter, because, to be honest, the next chapter isn't quite finished yet. ::wince:: Hopefully I will finish it in time to post next week, but if not, remember that I gave you this chapter early. So once again….HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Also- Special prize to the 100th reviewer...I don't know what yet, but it will be good, I'm only four away!

EsScaper- Right as always. I have to say that I did really enjoy writing that scene. It's actually the scene that the whole fanfic came from, so I'm glad that you liked it!

Anti-thule- If you didn't like that cliffhanger, opps, sorry, here it is again!

Live2sk8- Please read the rant in chapter 8 about Remus…I think that might help you.

**SHAMELESS PLUG**- If you like Sirius and Remus in this fanfic, I suggest you read my one shot Sirius Black: Villian or Victim? It's about Sirius' reaction to the article in the Quibbler, it's a lot of fun. It wont take much of your time, and I think you will all like it!


	10. Friendship

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Dedicated to my Grandmother, who loved Harry Potter almost as much as I do.

Chapter 10: Friendship

_Remus walked up to the __house__ that he knew his former friend, Sirius Black, lived in. He was still reeling over what had happened in the Minister's office earlier that day. Remus felt terrible. He hadn't believed Sirius' __story__, actually he hadn't even listened to it. The werewolf had been so grief-stricken and angry that he hadn't even been able to __face__ Sirius on that horrible __day__. In fact, Remus had dreamed of this day for many years. He had dreamed of marching up to this house and punching his former friend in the face, and to ask him why—why had he betrayed his best friends? But now the answer was right there…Sirius hadn't betrayed anybody. _

_Remus waited a couple of seconds before being able to summon his courage to knock on the door. There were sounds of crashing from inside, and some mild swearing before footsteps heading towards the door. Remus held his breath. The door opened. Sirius Black opened the door, wand raised. Without even looking to see who was there he said, "Go away!" And slammed the door shut. Remus just stood there, and then after a __second__, he knocked again. The door rushed __open_

"_Don't __you__ understand English? I thought I told __you__ to…" Sirius finally noticed his once friend standing in the doorway. There was an awkward silence. "Er--what brings __you__ here Remus?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice. "Revenge?" _

_Remus shook his __head__. "I think we need to talk Sirius." The aforementioned __man__ nodded, and opened the door __all__ the way to allow Remus entrance. The __two__ walked together to the living room, which actually took more than Remus could have ever imagined. The __house__ was a mess. There were piles of clothes everywhere, and many discarded __card__board containers, which Remus could only assume held some sort of __food__ product at some __point__. The smell was horrible too. Sirius led him to what should have been the living room and swept some clothes of the sofa, so that Remus could sit down. The werewolf sat down gingerly, hoping that the seat wouldn't give way. Silence. _

_  
__"It was Peter wasn't it?" _

_  
__Sirius looked up suddenly. Whatever he had been expecting Remus to talk about this wasn't it. He didn't dare hope that Remus had finally discovered the truth._

_  
__"What?" Sirius croaked, barely able to __get__ the words out of his mouth. _

_  
__"Peter…Wormtail. __You__ switched didn't __you__--and that __day__ on the street, it wasn't __you__ it was him and he…" _

_  
__"Transformed into a rat and joined the rest of his kind in the sewers." Sirius concluded in a bitter voice. Remus felt horrible. __All__ those years… _

_  
__"Why didn't __you__ try to contact me?" _

_Sirius looked down. "Would you have believed me if I had?" Remus gulped, but didn't say anything. They both knew the answer._

"_You know, he didn't just go down to the sewers. He found a home with a wizard, a rather important one at that," Remus than went on to explain what had happened in the Minister's office. Sirius just listened in silence, trying to accept everything. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Remus was here. "Sirius did you hear me?" _

"_What?"_

"_I asked you what we should do to find Peter."_

"_We?"_

"_You don't think that I'm going to just let that rat get away with this do you? No Sirius, it is obvious that you need help. And the first order of business is to clean this house up. You too. Really Padfoot, when was the last time you had a bath?" Sirius smiled. It had been the first time since the death of James and Lily that he had heard his nickname. _

"_You're one to talk Moony, are those gray flecks I see in your hair? Merlin, you're only 25!" _

"_Well at least my hair isn't as greasy as Snivillus'," Remus quipped back, not losing a beat. Sirius stared at him with horror and ran his hand through his hair._

"_Is it really that bad?"_

"_Yes, yes it is." Sirius gave a shout and ran upstairs._

"_Hey where are you going?" Remus called up to his newly restored friend. Sirius didn't answer but Remus knew where his friend was going, and that made the werewolf smile. He had a friend again, and never again would he allow for a misconception to get in the way of the two of them._

III

Remus couldn't help but think of that afternoon as he sat in the waiting room of St. Mungo's hospital. He had been waiting there for hours now, hoping to get word on how Harry was doing. They weren't sure if the Boy-Who-Lived was going to make it. The dagger that he had been stabbed with had had some sort of poison on it, they had told Remus the name of the poison, but the werewolf wasn't paying close enough attention. He was too worried. All he knew was that Harry wouldn't, or couldn't wake up. The wound wouldn't heal properly either. Remus was devastated. Sirius had been arrested, for having supposedly committed this terrible act, and Harry was lying as if dead. Everything was falling apart at once.

"Mr. Lupin?" Remus looked up. Dumbledore was standing behind him. There was no happiness in his face.

"Is Harry going to be all right?" The werewolf asked in earnest. Dumbledore shook his head sadly.

"We don't know yet, dear boy, we don't know." Remus put his head in his hands.

"Where's Sir—Black?"

"In a holding cell at the Ministry. His trail is set for a week from tomorrow, but we are worried that if Harry doesn't wake up soon that he will get off just as he did before."

"What happened exactly?" Remus asked, not really sure if he wanted to know. No matter what the Headmaster said, Remus had no way to know if it was truth. And he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. Dumbledore sighed, and sat down across from the werewolf, looking very old.

"From what we can tell Harry and Black got into an argument. You wrote me before that Harry was not being very careful about what he was saying to Black. So Black stabbed him, and the alarms on the house went off, letting us know that Harry was in mortal danger, so a couple of aurors were dispatched at once. They found Black on the floor beside Harry, with the knife in his hands. They stunned Black and brought Harry here as quickly as they could. If they had been even a minute later, young Mr. Potter would be dead."

Remus felt like crying. It certainly did sound bad, and he wasn't sure what to believe. "I'm sorry," he whispered, not really sure what he was sorry about.

"It was your fault Mr. Lupin, there was nothing you could have done to prevent it. As I understand you heard the alarms and went the Weasley's house at once." Remus nodded.

"Yes, we thought it was their boys again."

"You were looking out for Harry's best interests all along. Now I need to ask a favor of you." Remus heart stopped. What could Dumbledore possibly want him to do now?

As if he had read Remus' mind Dumbledore said, "I want you to go talk to Black—"

"But—"

"No, I need you to see if you can't get a confession out of him. We can't let him get back out on the streets because there isn't enough evidence again. Pretend to be his friend this one last time, and then I promise I will never ask for you to spy on him again."

Remus sighed. "Alright, when do you want me to go?"

"Right now, there is already a portkey set up for you outside." With that Remus was gone, ready to once again confront Sirius Black.

III

When Remus entered the Auror division at the Ministry, he was immediately escorted to the holding area. He was thankful that they hadn't taken Sirius to Azkaban, where the Dementors would have probably driven his friend mad in a matter of hours. However, when the werewolf was taken into the cell it looked as though Sirius looked terrible. His face was ashen gray and it looked as though he had been crying. The convict didn't even look up when Remus entered the room. He went over and sat next to his friend on the bed.

"I think we need to talk Sirius," he said repeating the words that he had first spoken to his friend all those years ago. Sirius looked up immediately.

"Remus! How did you get here? Is Harry ok?" Remus looked down sadly. Sirius became crazed. "How is Harry Remus? Did they get him to the hospital on time? Is he…no, he can't be. Please tell me he's not dead Remus!" His eyes were wide, and tears were coming down his face.

"Harry isn't dead Sirius," Remus said quietly. Sirius sighed in relief.

"Then its ok, everything's fine, did you come to pick me up? Did Harry tell everyone what happened? Can we go home now?"

Remus shook his head. "Sirius…Harry may not make it, the knife that he was stabbed with…it was poisoned Sirius. The healers say that he could die within the next couple of days." There was silence. Sirius was obviously in shock.

"But you said—"

"He's alive, but just barely. Sirius, what happened?"

"It was that damn Pettigrew again. He came in, and he had Harry, he was going to kidnap him!" Sirius proceeded to tell Remus the rest of the story. Remus just sat there in silence at the end of the story.

"You believe me don't you Remus?" Sirius asked desperately. "I swear it was him, I didn't…I wouldn't…I _couldn't_ hurt Harry you know that don't you Remus?"

Remus said nothing for a while until, "Of course I believe you Sirius." The aforementioned man looked like a load of bricks had been taken off his back.

"I thought that maybe after what happened with Lily and James that…"

"Sirius, I made a mistake then. I am not about to make the mistake again. I'm going to do whatever is in my power to get you out of here. Do you understand me?" Sirius nodded. "Good. Now, I'm going to go check on Harry again, but I don't want you to give up hope. This may take awhile."

Again, Sirius nodded, and just as Remus was about to leave he said, "If Harry wakes up…tell him that…I love him, and that he better get better soon." Remus smiled sadly in response.

"I will." He was almost out the door when Sirius spoke again.

"And Moony?

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome Padfoot, anytime."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- Sorry, sorry, I know this chapter is late. My grandmother died, (which is why this chapter is dedicated to her) and I had to leave to go to her funeral, which put me behind in schoolwork, which put me behind on my college applications, which put me behind on this fanfic. I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter, and I hope that you are all too. I just finished it, and I'm posting it as soon as possible, so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes. I just didn't want to make you have to wait again!

There is only going to be one or two more chapters to this fanfic, so hopefully you are all enjoying it so far.

EsScaper- Thanks, as always for your review. I'm glad that this story isn't too predictable. Hopefully this chapter answered your question, but if you still haven't caught it, it will answered more clearly in the next chapter. And this wasn't too bad of a cliffie, the action is falling, as my English teacher would say, so there is going to be some suspense. Anyway, thanks again!

lucerito-del-alma- Glad you enjoyed my plug, it's the only other fanfic that I have out there right now that I would recommend. I do enjoy writing Sirius' temper. He's not perfect, like many people try to make him. I still love him though, faults and all. Thank you for your review.

I think this chapter answered everyone else's questions, but if not, ask them again, or hang tight for the end. Everything will come together eventually.

I will update as soon as I have the next chapter finished!


	11. Saint Mungos

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter 11: Saint Mungos

Ron could barely believe what had happened just a couple of days ago. Everything had moved so fast. First he had been in for the grounding of his life, and then he was rushed away to the hospital where his best friend now lay as if dead. He was currently on what had been dubbed "Harry-sitting." It was late at night and everyone else had left to go home. At first Mrs. Weasley had been reluctant to let her 13-year-old son sit alone with his best friend this late at night, but Mr. Weasley had convinced her that there were enough Aurors stationed around the hospital wing to keep Ron safe from harm. It was the first peaceful moment that Ron had had all day. It gave him time to reflect.

'This isn't how its was supposed to go,' the red-head thought to himself. 'We were supposed to rescue Harry, and he was going to be at the Burrow for the rest of the summer.' But instead Black, who they had been trying to save Harry from, had stabbed the Boy-Who-Lived the very next day. Ron felt like it was his fault that Harry was lieing here, close to death. Maybe if they hadn't tried to rescue Harry in the first place then Black wouldn't have gotten angry. Or at least they could have come up with a better plan that would actually get Harry out of that house for good. This was worse then the events of the last two years together. He had never seen Harry look so…weak before. Harry looked as though he would die at any moment. Thankfully there were many levels of monitoring spells that told Ron that his best friend was still alive. The door of Harry's room opened, startling Ron out of his thoughts. It was the man with graying hair that had taken Ron and his brothers home the other night, after they had tried to rescue Harry. Ron stood up quickly, wand drawn, ready to defend Harry if this man was here to finish the job. The man put his hands up in the air to signal peace.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize that anyone would still be here this late. I just wanted to check on Harry."

Ron narrowed his eyes and didn't lower his wand. "What do you care if Harry's alright? You helped Black!"

Remus remained calm. "I think you better lower your wand…Ronald is it? We can talk this over like civilized men."

"I can hardly call the man who helped in the near murder of my best friend civilized."

"Ronald, if I were really responsible for this, do you think that the Aurors would have let me pass? I certainly hope not, for Harry's safety and yours." Ron still didn't back down, but he was beginning to look uncertain. "If I give you my wand, as a sign of peace, than can we talk?" Remus offered his wand out to the teenager. Ron nodded reluctantly and took the wand, before sitting down next to Harry again, still with a protective look on his face. Remus smiled lightly. "Now that's better. How is Harry doing?"

Ron looked at his best friend, who was still unconscious on the bed. "He hasn't woken up yet, but the healers think that he will be better in a couple of days. They think that they have gotten all the poison out of his system." The elder man looked relieved.

"That's some of the best news so far. So how long have you known Harry?"

"Since the train ride, during our first year." Remus nodded.

"I met my friends in the same way. You know I was a good friend of James and Lily Potter before they died. I knew Harry as a baby." Ron didn't say anything in reply to that. He just looked at Harry sadly. Remus began to talk again. "You know, I think that it is really great that you are such a loyal friend to Harry—he really needs—" However, the werewolf never got the chance to say what Harry really needed. The magical sensors monitoring Harry's condition started beeping and glowing red. Both Ron and Remus stood up suddenly, shocked by the loud noise. Before either of them had a chance to run for help, about six mediwizards came running into the room wands brandishing. They started performing medical spells on the Boy-Who-Lived.

"You have to leave!" One of them yelled.

"But—" Ron started, but before he could finish he found himself being pushed magically out the room, to join Remus, who had already been pushed out, in the hallway. Ron desperately looked in the windows and banged on the door. "Let me in!" He yelled, very worried about his friend. Lupin pulled Ron back to stop him from breaking into the room. "Let me go back! I have to see if he's ok!" The hysterical teenager shouted.

"Ronald, there is nothing that you can do for him now, let the mediwizards do their job. They'll take care of him. Why don't you go home, and come back tomorrow, when hopefully things will be less hectic."

"No! I can't leave! What if he…what if Harry doesn't…" Remus wanted to tell the poor boy that Harry would be just fine, and that everything would turn out for the better, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Plus the kid probably wouldn't believe him anyway. So the older man just nodded. "I'll stay with you, and we will wait for Harry to get better together." Ron responded by sitting down heavily into a chair of the waiting room, just outside of where Harry was. Remus sat beside him and together the two of the got ready for a very long night.

III

_**Boy-Who-Lived Stabbed By Godfather!**_

_It has recently been found out that on the evening of July 22nd, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was stabbed by his godfather, Sirius Black. Black recently gained custody of Potter, much to the distaste of most of the wizarding public. "I knew he was dangerous," states a ministry employee, who wished to remain anonymous. "I think that the Minister did as well, but he didn't do anything about it." This reporter has to wonder what Minister Weasley was thinking, allowing for Harry Potter to be in the custody of a well known murderer. Mr. Potter is currently being healed at Saint Mungo's Hospital, where he is yet to wake up from this terrible incident. Black is currently in the Ministry custody, awaiting his trail, which will be held three days from today, on July 31st. _

III

"Who leaked this information?" Minister Weasley was angry. Actually, he was more than angry, he was furious. And all those around him knew it from his scary quiet tone of voice. "Do I need to ask again? Who let this information out?" He glared at all the aids around him. There were very few people who knew about the stabbing of Harry Potter, and the Minister had been hoping to keep it that way until long after the trail was over. One of the Aurors stepped forward.

"We don't know yet sir, but we can launch a full investigation right now, if you want."

"Please do so. And increase the security around Harry, I want Aurors stationed in his room at all time, as well as more standing in the hallway. No one, I mean no one, except for me, my family, Hermione Granger, Headmaster Dumbledore, and Remus Lupin is allowed in that room. Is that understood?"

"Yes Minister. We'll get right on that." All the people that had been previously surrounding the minister took off in a frenzy, to make sure that everything was done. Arthur sat down heavily in a chair of the waiting room. The newspaper had only been released a couple of hours ago, but things had gone from hectic to pure chaos. There were a million reporters, well wishers, and probably some non-well wishers, standing around outside the hospital trying to get in and have a look at the Boy-Who-Lived. Meanwhile, the Minster had had troubles getting a full trail for Black on such short notice, and Harry was getting worse by the minute, according to the mediwizards. And as Harry got worse, Arthur's own family was beginning to break down with him.

Ron had barely talked to anyone since the incident, and when he did, it was only to Hermione. Poor Ginny had been crying for days straight, and the twins had never been so serious in their entire lives. Percy was trying his best to keep everyone organized, in his usual bossy way, which annoyed everyone around him. And then there was Molly. Arthur's poor wife had barely slept since she had heard the news and she spent all day looking after everyone. The Minister didn't even want to think about what would happen if Harry was to die. Not only would he have to deal with grief within his family, but for the whole wizarding world. The whole thing was a disaster.

"Arthur, do you need anything?" Molly had noticed her husband's distress from the other side of the room.

He sighed. "I'm fine, thanks Molly, how is everyone holding up?"

"As well as can be expected…the poor dears…and poor Harry!"

"I don't know what is going to happen if he dies…"

"Arthur Weasley, don't you dare say that! Don't you dare even think it. That boy has been through too much not to make it now. If you give up, everyone will give up."

"You're right, as always Molly." He gave a deep sigh again and stood up. "I better get back to work. Snape has been trying to make an antidote to the poison and he thinks that he made be close."

"That's good news dear. If you need anything, you know where I am."

"Yes, of course, thank you Molly. I love you."

"I love you too Arthur. Good luck."

"Thanks." With that the Minster of Magic went off to try and prevent any further disasters from happening.

III

"Remus if I could please have a quick word with you?" Dumbledore poked his head into the room where Lupin was sitting with Harry. Remus looked at the inanimate boy, then at Dumbledore, before deciding to get up and follow Dumbledore to an empty room in the hospital wing. This whole floor of the hospital had been cleared of all patients except for Harry, to ensure the safety of the Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore put up a silencing spell. The old man looked extremely tired.

"Remus, I know that this is a lot to ask of you, but I need you to testify in the trail." Remus' stomach lurched. How was he supposed to defend Sirius and stay in Dumbledore's good graces at the same time?

"But Headmaster, will anyone believe me…I mean I am a werewolf…"

"Not to worry dear boy, I will make it perfectly clear that you have been working for me all these years." Yep, there was no way to get out of this, Remus thought to himself. "Unfortunately I don't only need to you to testify, I need you to swear that Sirius is of sound mind." Remus snorted. "Otherwise, it may be decided that Black is insane, and that may get him out of a life sentence in Azkaban." There was a pause.

"What if he is insane?" Remus asked hesitantly, thinking that this was pretty good defense for Sirius. Dumbledore gave him a stern look.

"You don't honestly think that Black stabbed Harry out of his own free will?"

"I don't know, I mean, Black won't talk about it, and Harry isn't awake…what if there is something else at work here?"

"I hope for Harry's sake that there isn't. The boy is dieing Remus, and he probably won't live to tell the tale. Don't you think that he deserves justice?"

Remus hung his head, as if in shame, but his mind was reeling. What should he do? He wouldn't…he couldn't betray his best friend. But what would that mean for after the trail, if Sirius didn't get off? Remus already faced a lot of persecution because he was a werewolf, he couldn't imagine what would happen if people thought that he was also the best friend of the murderer (or almost murderer) of the Boy-Who-Lived. And then there was Harry, if Harry woke up… 'No,' Remus thought to himself, '_when_' Harry wakes up.' He had to try and stay positive. Dumbledore was now looking at the younger man with great concern.

"Remus, are you alright?"

"Not really, what if you need me, you know, after the trial, if for some reason Sirius—I mean Black gets off? What if you need me to watch him again, for Harry's sake."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "I have thought of this Remus, and I promised you that I would never make you spy on Black again, that you wouldn't have to pretend anymore. And Black should be put into jail for the rest of his natural born life for what he's done to Harry, but he's been let off before. That's why I need you Remus…Harry needs you. We need to make sure that Black doesn't get away with these crimes."

Remus closed his eyes slightly; there was no getting out of it. He was going to have to testify. And he was about to tell his former headmaster just that, but someone came running into the room that they were in. It was Percy Weasley, and he was very out of breath. "Headmaster, you have to come now, its Harry, he's not breathing!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- Merry Christmas, a couple of days late everyone! I know its been awhile since the last update, but all my pre-written stuff is gone, and things have been crazy! (Typical holiday stuff) The good news is that I have mostly finished my college apps, and I've been accepted to two school already! So, this is the second to last chapter, I was going to end it with this one, but this was long already, and I would hate to have 11 chapters in a fic, I would prefer the even 12.

Also, I live in Seattle, and as you might have heard, we were all out of power for like four days, meaning four days I couldn't work on this! They called FEMA, which may be certain that we were all going to die.

Exciting news about the 7th book title! I can't wait to see the fanfics that are going to come out of that. YAY! So anyway, I hope to update quicker next time, but there is only one left, so it wont be too long! Thank you to everyone for reviewing:

EsScaper- I was fairly surprised by your last review, but I can see where you got confused. My Remus is actually somewhat of a mix of the canon Remus and one that has suffered much less. If you look at the timeline below, you will see that Remus believed that Sirius was guilty for two years…and while that may not be long, it was long enough to change him. Also, the flashback was simply a continuation of the flashback in Chapter 5. You could match the two up and you would see that they take place on the same day. I think that if you go back and read that flashback you will understand. I don't like to label things "flashback" in the story, because I find it to be unprofessional and it reminds the reader that they are reading a story, therefore taking them out of the events within the story. I was hoping that the italics would give it away…but maybe not.

lucerito-del-alma- Ah yes, I am very good at procrastinating, however, this fanfic and other writings are what I use to waste time instead of writing my college essays or doing my homework for school. Good for all you, bad for my grades.

Timeline for My Parent's Secret Keeper 

July 31st 1980- Harry Born

September 30th 1981- Peter made Secret Keeper of the Potters- Potters go into hiding

October 31st 1981- Betrayal and Death of the Potters, Harry goes to the Dursleys

November 1st 1981- Sirius Black arrested

November 6th 1981- Sirius Black acquitted due to lack of evidence

November 15th 1981- Trial for custody of Harry, Sirius loses

April 2nd 1983- Remus approached by the Minister and Dumbledore

September 1st 1991- Harry goes to Hogwarts

June 20th 1992- Harry ends his 2nd year

July 11th 1992- Sirius gets custody of Harry--Harry visits the Weasleys

July 18th 1992- Harry goes to live with Sirius

July 21st 1992- Weasleys come to rescue Harry

July 22nd 1992- Pettigrew attacks Harry

July 23rd 1992- Remus visits Sirius in prison

July 31st 1992- Sirius' second trail

September 1st 1992- 3rd year of Hogwarts


	12. The Verdict

My Parent's Secret Keeper 

Chapter 12: The Verdict

Dumbledore and Remus rushed to Harry's room, where there was a full team of healers surrounding the Boy-Who-Lived. All of the monitoring spells around Harry were flashing bright red. "You can't be in here!" One of the healers yelled at the two distraught men. "You have to stand outside like the rest of them!" Dumbledore calmly accepted this, but Remus could not.

"What do you mean? HARRY! Is he alive?" As someone was trying to push the werewolf out the room, he continued to yell. "He's my best friend's son! You can't kick me out of here! I need to be with him, please, HARRY!" Remus was frantic, he didn't know what he would do if Harry was to die, what Sirius would do. It was Dumbledore who was finally able to coax Remus from the room. Remus cursed the old man for being so much more composed than him. How dare he be so calm? Harry Potter was dieing and he wasn't doing a damn thing about it! The werewolf was about to turn around and yell this at the Headmaster, but as soon as he saw the look on the old man's face he stopped short. Dumbledore look worse than Remus had ever seen him. Somehow, even in the worst tragedy Dumbledore had always been able to hide his worries. But not now, the old wizard's face was ashen, and his eyes looked dull and worried. He and Remus said nothing as they sat down on the bench across from the room. The Weasley parents had managed to herd their hysterical children into the waiting room further away from Harry's room, in hopes that if Harry did really die, the children didn't have to see it.

"Remus, there is nothing we can do," Dumbledore said as a way to try and comfort the man sitting beside him. But Remus knew that what the headmaster meant was that _he_, Albus Dumbledore, could do nothing to save Harry Potter. Even though he didn't show it, Remus knew that Dumbledore felt responsible for all of this, which was why he was so determined to put Sirius in jail. Dumbledore felt like he should have been able to prevent this whole ordeal by keeping Harry away from Sirius. _'They don't realize how alike they are,'_ he thought, _'Sirius and Dumbledore will both do whatever they can to protect those they love.'_ But Remus couldn't help but still feel anger towards Dumbledore, for not realizing the truth about Sirius years ago.

"Well Headmaster, if Sirius wasn't insane before this, he most certainly will be now."

Dumbledore didn't even bother responding to Remus, because at that moment a healer came out of Harry's room, looking very upset. Both men jumped to their feet immediately.

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm afraid I have bad news about Mr. Potter—" However, the healer didn't have a chance to finish saying was she was going to say. Severus Snape came barreling down the hall, his robes billowing behind him in the way that had terrified first year Hogwarts students for years. He didn't speak to anyone, not even the healer or Dumbledore, but he barged into Harry's room. The healer, Dumbledore, and Remus all followed behind him quickly. The healers were trying to get Snape out of the room.

"Sir, you don't have the security clearance to be in here, you have to leave—"

"Is he dead?" Snape asked in a menacing voice.

"Sir I cannot tell you…"

"Answer his question!" Remus barked, desperate to know the answer. Dumbledore gave his nod of approval to the healer.

"Not yet, but he only has a little time left…there is nothing we can do." Remus fell to the floor, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Good," Snape said. That was enough for Remus.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He was about to punch the man who dared insult Harry Potter, but before he could, Snape pulled a vial out of his pocket of clear blue liquid. He went over to Harry's bed. Remus wanted to run over there and protect Harry from this deatheater, but Dumbledore held him back. Snape poured the vial down Harry's throat and there were a couple of second of complete silence by the occupants of the room. And then the monitoring charms stopped flashing red.

Harry began to breathe again. Remus nearly collapsed on the floor in relief.

Dumbledore smiled for the first time since Harry had been stabbed. The healer who went to go check on Harry's condition spoke to the room.

"He's alright, he isn't even comatose any more, he's just sleeping. Hopefully he will wake up within the next couple hours." There was cheering in the room. Snape smirked briefly and then made his way towards the door, as if he couldn't stand being in the same room as happy people.

"Severus," Dumbledore called after him.

"Yes Headmaster?" Snape said, defiantly not happy to be stopped from exiting.

"I need to speak for you for a moment." Snape sighed as if he already was expecting this, nodded, and followed the headmaster out of the room. A healer came up to Remus after Snape and Dumbledore had left the room.

"Sir, I'm afraid that I'm going to ask you to leave the room. We need to make absolute sure that Mr. Potter will be alright, and we don't want anyone disturbing that process." Remus didn't move.

"No, I will stay here. He will need a familiar face when he wakes up." The healer looked like she was about to say something else, but stopped short, and allowed Remus to sit beside the peacefully sleeping Harry Potter.

III

Sirius was sitting in his cell, pretending to be asleep. He couldn't stand to look at his surroundings when he should be at the hospital, sitting beside his godson's bed. Also, the guards tended to make nasty comments at the prisoner whenever he was awake, and Sirius was afraid that one of these days his temper would get the better of him. He heard some shuffling just outside his cell, and he knew that it was the switching of the guards. Sirius was very surprised that they even bothered to be quiet. Actually, the Auror that had just entered seemed to be lingering, Sirius perked his ears a bit to hear what they were talking about.

"…asleep?" The new Auror asked.

"About an hour."

"Did you know that they discovered what poison he used on Harry Potter?" Sirius nearly sat straight up and demand what the Auror was talking about, but thought better at that moment.

"Really? They've already released it to the public? I thought the Minister was keeping all information under lock and key."

"Oh, he is, I just came off my shift outside his office. I overheard his conversation with Dumbledore."

"What was it?"

"Veneficus, a poison that is widely known was created by the Black family, there is no cure."

"NO!" Sirius leaped up from his former position on the bed, a furious look in his eyes. How dare that rat use that poison? Sirius himself had taught that…that…_thing_ how to brew it. He had taught all his closest friends during the war, because all you needed was to nick someone slightly on the arm, and it would immediately send that person into a comatose state, until he or she died. It was meant to PROTECT Harry. Sirius was furious. "I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!" The aurors outside that cell were now quite alarmed. They both stood with wands at the ready. Sirius couldn't take it any more, he collapsed on the floor, sobbing. "Its all my fault," he whispered to himself. "Its all my fault!" The two Aurors outside the cell looked at each other, as if to make sure that they had both heard what the man in the cell said. They had just heard the confession of Sirius Black.

III

Remus still hadn't moved from his position next to Harry's bed. Visiting hours had been over for awhile, making the room quiet. The healer had told Remus that if he was going to insist on staying, the werewolf might as well do something useful. Apparently it helped if someone talked to an unconscious person.

"Well I don't really know what to say to you Harry," Remus started. "I've really only known you for a week now. But there is so much of Lily and James in you that I feel like I've known you for years. You have Lily's temper and James' inability to sit still. That's why things have been so difficult with you and Sirius, he sees them in you too, and every time he upsets you, he sees it as upsetting them. He means well he just…"

Remus stopped there. Harry began to stir, a slight moan came from the Boy-Who-Lived's mouth. For a couple of seconds Remus couldn't manage to say anything. All he could so was watch in fascination as Harry's eyes fluttered open.

"Remus?" Harry asked in a quiet voice, just barely above a whisper.

"Harry!" Remus exclaimed. "You're awake! How are you? Are you hurt? Do you need me to call for a nurse because I can by just…" Harry shook his head.

"My ribs are a little sore, and my throat hurts, but I think I'm alright. Where am I?"

"You're at Saint Mungo's, in a private ward of the hospital. We've been very worried about you Harry. We nearly lost you there. You've been out for a little over a week." Harry looked like this news exhausted him even more. He couldn't believe that he had been out for that long…he felt like he had something important to tell Remus, but he couldn't remember what it was. Remus, although reluctant to bring up such a nasty subject so quickly, asked the question that would change the course of several people's lives. "Do you remember what happened that caused you to be sent here Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment. What had happened…his eyes widened as memories from that night came flooding back. "There was a rat…he turned into a man! Before I got a chance to yell for help, he had grabbed my wand, he said that he would be rewarded for killing me…" Harry shivered. Remus looked like there was something that he wanted to say, but he let Harry continue his story. "I thought that I was done for, but then Black came into the room. He argued with the rat man, he tried to save me. The rat man said that he had framed Black! That's the last thing I remember before…oh no! Did the rat man get to Black? Is he ok? I've got to go tell Mr. Weasley, Black wasn't lying after all!" Harry tried to get up from his bed, but Remus stopped him.

"Harry its alright," he said in a soothing voice. "Everything will be fine, but you can't leave this bed, you are still very sick. Sirius is fine too, but he has been very worried about you. You can't go see him just yet though, he's in a different part of the hospital." Remus felt bad about adding one more lie to the long list of their short relationship, but it seemed to do the trick, and the boy lay back in his bed. One day soon Remus was going to have to clear all of this up.

"Is Bla—I mean Sirius…is he really ok?" Remus' heart warmed a little to hear Harry call Sirius by his first name, and he nodded.

"If he wasn't already, he will be now. All right, I know that there is a group of Weasleys and a certain Ms. Granger permanently stationed in the waiting room just outside this hall, who have all been very concerned for you. Shall I go fetch a couple of them?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically. "That would be great!" Remus grinned for what seemed like the first time in months, and headed out of Harry's room with some speed. He didn't want to leave The-Boy-Who-Lived alone for too long. However, he was very surprised when he entered the waiting room that there was no one there. Not a single Weasley. He went to the healer's station and asked, "Do you know where the Weasleys have gone to? I have some rather good news to give them."

It was a brunette healer, the one who had tried to kick him out of Harry's room earlier that answered. "They all left."

That confused Remus even more. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, of course not! Have you not heard? Sirius Black confessed in front of two Aurors just a couple of hours ago. I suspect that they all went home to prepare for the trial that is going to take place first thing tomorrow morning."

III

Harry lay in his hospital bed, feeling quite helpless. Remus had left the room only minutes before, but Harry didn't think that it would take this long. There were a lot of thoughts spinning through his head, he wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation. Harry couldn't believe how stupid he had been! He had just blindly believed what Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore had told him about Sirius without so much of a second thought. Harry knew what it was like to be blamed for something horrible. It had only been in the last school year that he, Harry Potter, had been accused of being the heir of Slytherin and attacking his fellow students. And the Dursleys had been blaming Harry for every little thing wrong in their lives for the last eleven years. Harry couldn't imagine having to put up with ridicule and blame for the death of two people that you loved, while still grieving for them. But then there was Remus, Harry felt a connection with the man, but now he realized the horrible mistake that Remus had made. How would Sirius feel after he saw that his only friend had only been pretending? Harry couldn't think of anything worse—although, Remus hadn't seemed surprised when Harry had told him that Sirius was innocent. He had just seemed happy and relieved. However, before the Boy-Who-Lived had much of a chance to think about this, a healer came into the room, she began to prod at Harry's monitoring charms, Harry was so quiet and still that it took the healer a couple of seconds to realize that he was awake.

"Mr. Potter!" She exclaimed. "You're awake, that's wonderful. Are you uncomfortable in any way? Is there something that I can get you? A glass of water perhaps?"

Harry was slightly overwhelmed, but he nodded his head, and in a bit of a croaky voice said, "Water would be great." The healer conjured a glass of water and handed it to Harry. He was very grateful; he didn't know how thirsty he had been until he had started to drink.

"Not too fast now Mr. Potter, we wouldn't want you to choke." Harry stopped drinking. "Now, is there anything else? Any questions about the treatment you've been given?"

Harry shook his head, he didn't really care about himself right now. "When will I be able to see my godfather?"

The healer looked surprised. "Your godfather? You mean Sirius Black?" Harry nodded. "Well…I don't know. I suspect that you will never have to see that horrible man again. His trial is set for tomorrow, and I should think that they will give him the Dementor's Kiss straight out!"

Harry didn't know what a Dementor was, or why it kissing someone was a punishment. "But I was told that Sirius was in the hospital too, why is he having a trial?" The healer looked at Harry sympathetically.

"I don't know who told you that dear, I didn't think that anyone knew that you were awake yet." Clearly she thought that Harry was out of his mind. "Black was arrested right away when the Aurors found you. We didn't think with the poison on the knife that you would make it all. You gave us all quite a scare young man. Now, why don't you rest a bit, someone will be back to check on you within the hour." Harry was too stunned to respond to anything that the healer had said, and she took this as a sign of compliance and left the room. Harry simply didn't understand. Sirius hadn't stabbed him…it had been the rat man. Didn't everyone know that? Why had Remus lied to him about where Sirius was? As if the man had heard the question that Harry had just asked himself, Remus walked into the room. He looked like someone had just died. But Harry was too upset to care what the man had just been through, whatever that was.

"Where is Sirius?" He asked in a bold voice. Remus looked surprised.

"I told you he is…"

"I know what you told me, but there was just a healer in here, and she said that he was in prison! Why would he be there? Why did you lie? What happened? Did you not catch the rat man?" Harry was beginning to work himself into hysterics, and Remus had to everything that he could to calm the boy down.

"Harry, its true, Sirius was arrested, but…"

"WHAT? Why was he arrested? What about the rat man?"

"Harry, you have to calm down, you'll hurt yourself. I can explain. The rat man that you are talking about it actually a man by the name of Peter Pettigrew, and as far as the world is concerned, Peter has been dead for eleven years."

"I remember…Mr. Weasley said that Sirius killed Peter along with all those muggles. I don't understand!"

Remus sighed. "It's a very long story Harry. I think that you are far to ill to hear it just now."

"No, please, I need to know. How could this have happened? How could everyone have thought that Sirius had betrayed his best friends and killed a ton of muggles, when it was really Peter Pettigrew?"

Remus was torn. There was something so…innocent about Harry's question. With all that The-Boy-Who-Lived had already been through, and the fact that he looked so much like James just before he died, it was easy to forget that Harry was only twelve (almost thirteen) years old. The story of what had happened to Sirius wasn't a pleasant one, and it painted a bad picture of some people that Harry respected very much. Remus didn't want Harry to lose faith in Mr. Weasley or Dumbledore. But when the werewolf saw the look in Harry's eyes, he realized that he couldn't keep this truth from him. It was too important. "All right I'll tell you, but I need you to understand that this is only one side of the story, there were reasons that things happened the way they did. There were…misunderstandings…it was a very dark time Harry." Harry nodded in acknowledgement. Remus sighed deeply and began his story, "I suppose all of this started when I was a young boy, my father had slighted a man by the name of Fenrir Greyback…"(1) Then Remus proceeded to tell Harry everything; how he was bitten, how Dumbledore had kindly allowed the young Remus into Hogwarts, what James, Sirius, and Peter had done for him, the map, and everything that had led up to the betrayal of Lily and James. For the first time the werewolf told someone the whole truth about his double agent role for Dumbledore and the Minister, something that even Sirius didn't know all the details of. He even explained his latest meeting with his best friend. Harry, for his part, listened intently for the entire three hours that the story took to tell. Remus didn't dare look at Harry's face for the majority of the story, afraid of how the boy would take all of this. When Remus was done with his story, with what the nurse at just told him, he braved a glance at Harry's face. It was blank. "I think that's all," Remus said nervously, "do you have any questions?"

Harry seemed to think about this for a second before responding, "Yeah, what are we going to do? I mean to get Sirius off? The trail is only a couple of hours away!"

Remus grinned. He was forming a plan just as Harry was speaking. "Do you happen to be in possession of James' invisibility cloak?"

III

A couple of hours after the conversation between Remus and Harry, Sirius Black was being rudely awakened by two Aurors. Not that he had been actually sleeping, but if he had been, throwing a water spell at a sleeping man would have been very rude. Sirius hadn't slept since he had heard the news of his godson's poisoning. Nothing really mattered to Sirius anymore. He knew that even if Harry wasn't dead yet, he would be within the next couple of hours, and that he would never have a chance to see his godson alive again. Pettigrew had won. Even though Remus had believed his friend, there was simply no proof that Sirius wasn't the one responsible for Harry's death. Actually, Sirius felt like he was responsible for Harry's death, whether or not he had actually delivered the deadly blow. The almost-convict was going to let this trial come and he wasn't going to fight the inevitable life sentence to Azkaban. That is why he made no protests as the Aurors magically handcuffed him and led him out of his cell at the Ministry to a courtroom down the hall. He barely even flinched when he was placed in a chair with chains wrapped around his arms in front of the entire Wizengamot. In the middle of the front row of the 50 member Wizengamot sat Minister Weasley, wearing the traditional plum-colored robes. He looked down at Sirius with a certain amount of disgust.

"With the accused being present let's begin. Are you ready?" Mr. Weasley asked to a secretary sitting with a quill poised to take notes.

"Yes Minister," came the voice of the secretary.

"Attempted Murder trail of July 31st," began Mr. Weasley. "Into offences committed under the Wizengamot Charter of Rights by Sirius Nigellus Black, resident of number 12, Kevin Street, England. Interrogators: Arthur William Weasley, Minister of Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Court Scribe; Hector Lionel Zimmerman. The charges against the accused are as follows: That he knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having previously been accused of murder eleven years ago, stabbed his godson and ward, a Mr. Harry James Potter, in the stomach with a knife with the poison Veneficus on the tip of the blade, with intent to murder. Are you Sirius Nigellus Black of 12 Kevinium Street, England?" (2) The Minister looked expectantly down at Sirius.

"Yes," Sirius responded.

"And were you not accused of the murder of 12 muggles and a Mr. Peter Pettigrew eleven years ago?"

"I was, but I was acquitted by this very body." There was some discomfort in the stands of Wizengamot members. The Minister ignored this and continued.

"Were you granted custody of Harry James Potter on July 11th of this month?"

"Yes."

"How would you describe your relationship with your ward, Harry James Potter?"

"Harry doesn't trust me or like me, but he puts up with me, for the most part."

"Did Mr. Potter attempt to run away from your home on the night of July 21st only eleven days after you obtained custody?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Evidence that Mr. Potter didn't even tolerate Mr. Black's presence. Would you please tell us what happened on the night of July 22nd, only one day after Mr. Potter's attempted escape?"

"He didn't try to escape, he was kidnapped by your children, Minister!"

"So Mr. Potter didn't leave of his own free will?"

"He did, but he wouldn't have if…"

"We are not here to discuss whether or not Mr. Potter was kidnapped or tried to runaway," Amelia Bones interjected. "Please continue the questioning Minister."

Mr. Weasley nodded and continued. "I will repeat my question Mr. Black. Would you please tell us what happened on the night of July 22nd?"

"I was sitting downstairs, talking to my friend, Remus Lupin, when the alarm from Harry's room went off. We both assumed that it was the Weasley boy's again, so Remus flood over to the Weasley residence, to inform the Minister and his wife. I went upstairs to check on Harry. I heard a struggle coming from inside the door, and I rushed in, only to be disarmed, and to see Peter Pettigrew holding Harry at wand point." There was a great mummer in among the wizards and witches in the room. Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes, but it was Dumbledore who spoke.

"Are you referring to the same Peter Pettigrew who you were accused of killing eleven years ago?"

"The very same." Sirius responded. There were several people who looked like they wanted to say something about this, but no one did.

"Please continue Mr. Black," Weasley prompted.

"Pettigrew and I got into an argument, that resulted in him stabbing Harry in the stomach and then disapperating." Now there was outrage coming from the entire Wizengamot. It looked like even Mr. Weasley was having a hard time controlling his temper.

"Are you willing to take Veritaserum to prove this?"

"No."

"You understand Mr. Black that we have no real proof except your word on this…accusation of Mr. Pettigrew."

"Yes."

"Why wont you take Veritaserum?" Mr. Weasley asked, frustrated.

"Because Minister, if I did, I wouldn't live to see the end of this trial. I am highly allergic to it."

Mr. Weasley bristled, but he turned to the Wizengamot. "I think I've heard just about enough. Let's take a vote, unless there is something else that you would like to add Mr. Black?"

Sirius shook his head no, to him it seemed that it wouldn't matter what he said.

Amelia Bones looked around and asked, "all those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" There was silence. Not one member of the Wizengamot raised his or her hand. Even though this is what he had been expecting, Sirius felt his stomach drop. "All of those in favor of conviction?"

"WAIT!" Came a loud voice from the doors of the room. Everyone looked up startled. There, in the doorway was Remus Lupin. He walked slowly up to where Sirius was seated, the way he walked was strange, like he was limping or supporting someone else on his shoulder.

"What is the meaning of this Mr. Lupin?" The Minister asked. There were nods of agreement from all members of the Wizengamot. Sirius didn't dare look at his friend, but all of sudden he felt a spark of hope, if only because now there was someone who actually cared about him there.

"Professor Dumbledore asked me to be here. He wanted me to testify, so here I am. I just received news that the trial was taking place earlier than planned."

Dumbledore smiled down at Remus. "Thank you very much Mr. Lupin for keeping your word, but we were about to vote, you are not needed." Remus looked at Dumbledore with pleading eyes.

"Please Headmaster, I have a testimony that would really help." The Minister gave Dumbledore a look, and there was a quiet agreement between the two of them.

"All right Mr. Lupin, we accept your witness. Please state your full name and your relationship to Sirius Black."

"My name is Remus John Lupin and Sirius Black is my best friend." There were gasps.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Sirius Black is my best friend, and with me I have brought a witness who can prove his innocence."

"Who?" Blurted several members of the Wizengamot.

"Me," came a muffled voice beside Remus. There, standing beside the werewolf, was Harry, who had just removed his invisibility cloak. When Sirius saw Harry, he could swear that his heart stopped. He couldn't believe what he was seeing!

"HARRY!" He yelled, thrilled to see his godson alive. "You're alive!" Harry grinned, but didn't say anything. Anybody who looked at the boy carefully would have seen that while he was standing, it looked as though he would fall down at any moment. Remus noticed this and moved to let Harry lean on his shoulder, but Harry refused.

"Mr. Potter, it is good to see you up on your feet again," started Professor Dumbledore. "But what are you doing here? I highly doubt that the hospital released you already."

"I had to come. Sirius didn't hurt me! He tried to save me…if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be standing here." Everyone looked quite shocked at the strength and emotion behind the Boy-Who-Lived's voice.

Of course only Dumbledore had the composure to ask the next question. "Are you quite sure Mr. Potter? Could you have been mistaken?"

Harry shook his head. "No, Sirius did what he could to keep me safe, you have to believe me!" Seeing the boy's distress, it was Amelia Bones who came to her senses next.

"Who attacked you then Mr. Potter?"

"Peter Pettigrew!"

There were angry shouts from the Wizengamot, and mutterings on how Black must have gotten to the boy, and changed his memory.

"How can you be sure that it was Peter Pettigrew who attacked you?" Mr. Weasley asked. Harry looked as though he had anticipated this question.

"I have a picture of him sir, in this photo album that Hagrid gave me at the end of my first year of Hogwarts, he was at my parents wedding." Dumbledore came down from the stands to examine the picture that Harry had flipped to. It was a picture taken at Lily and James' reception, there were a ton of people gathered around the happy couple.

"Could you identify which person is Peter Pettigrew in this picture Harry?"

Harry nodded, and pointed to the man standing in between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.

"That's correct. Mr. Potter was able to identify Peter Pettigrew. Mr. Potter also has my full faith that he is telling the truth." This shut up the Wizengamot. Mr. Weasley regained his composure.

"Well I think this means that we need to revote. Ms. Bones if you would…"

"All those in favor of clearing the witness of all charges?" Slowly, one by one, each one of the 50 members of the Wizengamot raised their hands.

"Well I think that settles things. Sirius Nigellus Black is hereby cleared of all charges." The chains strapping Sirius were released, and the man jumped up to hug his godson. Harry returned the hug, before promptly falling unconscious into his godfather's arms.

III

Harry slowly became aware of his surroundings…. there were voices all around him. He didn't recognize any of them, until he opened his eyes. Sitting at his bedside was his godfather and Remus, and it seemed that they were arguing about something.

"You've been in jail for over a week Sirius, you need to go home and get some rest! I'll stay here with Harry. Plus, I think that your hair is beginning to get as greasy as Snape's again!" It was Remus.

"Look out for what you're saying old man!" Sirius retorted. "You're hair is grayer than Dumbledore's."

"Oh, I'm the old one? I could take you in a game of Quidditch anytime anyplace."

"Yeah right, you can barely stay balanced on a broom, in fact I remember that time in third year when…" Sirius would have continued but a small voice came from the bed.

"You're both the same bloody age, and I could beat both of you together in a Quidditch match."

"HARRY!" The two older men exclaimed at the same time.

"Ow," was the only response.

"Harry, are you all right? Are you hurt? Do you feel faint? Do I need to get a healer? Remus, go get a healer!"

"Sirius…I'm fine." Harry said in a strong voice. "You're bickering is just making me to get a headache."

For a second Sirius didn't know what to say. "You called me Sirius."

Harry looked puzzled. "Its your name isn't it?"

"Yeah, but before…" There was an awkward silence. Remus looked between the godfather and godson several times, they were staring at each other as if they had never seen each other before.

"Look…Sirius…I'm sorry about before I didn't…" Harry started, before Sirius interrupted.

"Don't worry about it, you didn't know."

"But—"

"Harry, there was no way that you could have known. Lets just forget that it happened."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Does this mean that I'm not grounded anymore?" The-Boy-Who-Lived asked with an innocent look on his face. Sirius thought about this for a second.

"I don't know, what do you think Moony?" Remus noticed the mischievous tone of voice and put a serious look on his face.

"That's a tough one Padfoot. He did just call us old and insulted our Quidditch skills."

Harry was beginning to be very concerned…what were they planning?

"I think there is only one proper punishment for all that worry then, how about we give him the ole' Marauder treatment?" Sirius asked. Now Harry was very concerned. Remus grinned.

"Alright then, on the count of three."

"One…"

"Two…"

"THREE!" The two Marauders started viciously tickling the poor boy on the bed.

"Haha…stop…hahaha…" Harry couldn't help but giggling. The two older men didn't relent, but Harry found himself not caring. He finally had a family.

**THE END**

(1)For full details see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and while I know what the result of assuming is, I am assuming that if you are reading this fanfic, you have read all of the Harry Potter books.

(2)If these words seem familiar to you, they are! I copied most of them straight out of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, so these words do not belong to me, but rather to the brilliant Ms. Rowling.

AN- Well, that's all folks! I bet you thought that I would NEVER finish this fanfic, but I did! Its only the second multi-chapter fic that I have finished. YAY! Before you ask, I know that the ending is rather open ended, but I have no intention of writing a sequel, but if there are enough reviews, I might consider writing an epilogue. (Hint Hint) Next I am going to work on a fanfic that I started years ago, called Ron Weasley's Day Off, based off my favorite movie, Ferris Beuller's Day Off. At the suggestion of a reviewer I am going to write it in my own words, not just copying and pasting the script of the movie into a fanfic and changing some words.

I am going to issue a fanfic challenge that I think people will like, of an idea of a fanfic that I have had for forever, but I have no real desire to write. In the 3rd book Remus said that none of the events of Oct. 31st would have happened if he hadn't been bitten. So what if Remus had never been bitten by Fenrir Greyback? How would the years at Hogwarts change? How would Harry's life be different? Would the Marauders exist? If you want to respond to this challenge, I am calling it the **Werewolf Challenge**, please put that in the summary of your fanfic, and I can't wait to see if anyone attempts this!

Any reviews that you leave, I will respond to in the author response feature now available. So look out for that. Thank you all for your wonderful support and reviews!

Until the next fanfic,

Meg

harry'n'mione4ever- Hopefully it was a satisfactory ending for you! And I happen to like happy endings too. ;)

Svana- One can never be too optimistic!

outkast angel- Yep, I can! But no, I don't think that I could ever kill Harry Potter, I am afraid that that is exactly what JKR is going to do in the next book though!

loonar cyclus- Poor Sirius, I think that there have been many "special occasions" for his temper in this fic…I put that poor man through quite a bit.


	13. Epilouge Part 1

**My Parent's Secret Keeper**

**Epilogue—Part One**

"_No, it's yours Harry James Potter. Voldemort wasn't interested in your parents, he couldn't care less about Lily and James, he wanted you. YOUR PARENTS DIED FOR YOU, not that you deserve it. You disrespect their wishes for you. James would have been very disappointed in you."_

"Sirius, you have to talk to him about this," Remus said to his best friend in the most commanding voice he could muster. It had been two weeks since the trial that had permanently cleared Sirius of all charges that had been filed against him, but life in the Black household hadn't been the best. Harry, was still recovering from his encounter with Peter Pettigrew, was not a happy child. As soon as the happiness of saving his Godfather from a one way ticket to Azkaban had dimmed down, so did the glow in Harry's eyes. This was the reason Remus was currently badgering Sirius.

"Look Padfoot, what you said to him was out of line. I still don't know the exact words that you used, but whatever it was that you said, I think it hurt him worse than any knife that could stab him."

Sirius just blew off this remark with, "He's fine Moony, he knows that I didn't mean it. That was back when he thought I was his evil godfather out to get him. Harry understands that I would never blame him for the death of his parents. Peter and Voldemort are the reason they are dead." Sirius said the last part pleadingly. Deep down, he knew that Harry was still blaming himself for the death of Lily and James, because of what Sirius had said to him. The terrible twisting in Sirius' stomach every time Remus had brought up this subject reminded him of that fact. Remus wasn't buying it.

"I know you're not that thick. He goes back to Hogwarts in only a couple of weeks. I've tried talking to him about it, but you're the one who caused this damage, so you are the only one who can reverse it. For once in your life, be a man, and go talk to your godson."

"But—" The look on Remus' face told Sirius that he better not argue anymore. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, Sirius walked up the stairs reluctantly. He hesitated outside Harry's door for a second before lightly knocking and entering. Harry was sitting by the window, petting Hedwig. He looked up when Sirius entered the room, a little startled.

"Hey kiddo what's up?" Sirius asked, putting a strained smile on his face. There was a reason he had been avoiding this talk for so long.

"Just writing a letter to Ron," Harry hesitated for a second. "That's alright, right? I mean, I know I was grounded, but that seems like ages ago, and I haven't written in forever, and I'm worried that…"

"Calm down Harry. I think being stabbed by an evil rat man and spending a week in the hospital has put you through more than enough. I think we can officially say you are no longer grounded." Harry looked very relieved, muttered something softly to his owl before she flew out the window, and then turned to face his godfather awkwardly.

"So…"

"So. Is that transfiguration homework still giving you problems? I can help you if you would like, or not. Merlin knows James and I always left our homework until the train ride to Hogwarts." Sirius was stalling and he knew it. When Harry stiffened at the mention of his father, the knot in Sirius' stomach tightened.

"I think I've got it under control. I've not finished my potions yet but…"

"Harry, we need to talk," Sirius said, interrupting whatever was about to be said about potions. "You see… I've mentioned this before but Remus says that… I mean, I don't think that you need to be told, but… you should already know… it's been mentioned before… I'm not quite sure how to broach…" Harry looked horrified.

"You're not seriously going to give me THE talk are you? I thought you were just teasing before, I really already know how… well, how, that works…"

Sirius barked a laugh, happy for the broken tension before remembering. "No, Harry, not that. Ha! But remind me to tell Moony that he has to give you that talk, as the responsible one in this household, in about a year or two. It'll be great!"

Harry smiled, glad that wasn't it. He couldn't imagine anything more terrifying than that talk again. "What do you want to talk about then?"

Sirius took a deep breath and began. "You remember the night that you tried to leave with the Weasleys?" Harry nodded, and was about to say something but Sirius wouldn't let him talk. "Don't interrupt, I need to get this all out at once, or I won't be able to at all." The Boy-Who-Lived looked very nervous at this point, but allowed his godfather to continue speaking. "Well that night some…words…were exchanged, and some things came to light, things that should have… well there's no way to reverse them now, but, well, I needed to really think about them before I talked to you, but I have to do something about it now…"

"Don't send me back to the Dursleys! I know that I said that I would prefer to live with them, but I really wouldn't. I just didn't know the whole situation then, and I was angry at you. I didn't mean it! I promise, I'll do anything… I'll go back to being grounded… please…" Harry was close to tears. There was silence for a second while Sirius found his footing. It took him awhile to even register what had been said.

"Harry, no! No, I would never send you back to the Dursleys! Do you think that I spent 11 years trying to get custody, just to send you back because of some angry words? I promise, you will never see those disgusting excuses for human beings ever again. Not unless you want to of course, but I don't want you to think that I would ever do something like that. I love you. Do you understand that Harry?" The nearly hysterical boy nodded, and Sirius knew that this part of the discussion wasn't over, but he had a bigger fish to fry. "Harry, this is about what I said to you. About James…and Lily. You have to understand that I was very angry that night, I was angry at myself for not being the godfather I should have been, I was angry at Dumbledore for not believing in me, the Weasleys for trying to steal away the one thing that meant the most to me…. I was even angry at Lily and James for dying and leaving both of us in that situation. Temper runs in my family, you see, if you ever meet my mother, which I hope to Merlin you never do, you'd understand. But Harry, I have to tell you. Despite all those things I had no right to say what I did. You, were not responsible for what Voldemort did that night."

"But you said…"

"No, Harry. What I said was wrong. Your mother and father had fought Voldemort three times and lived to tell the tale. That was a good enough reason for him to be after anyone. If it weren't for you, they probably wouldn't have lived as long as they did, because they went into hiding to protect you."

"And died to protect me," Harry said miserably.

"Yes, they did die to protect you. But Harry, they wouldn't have had it any other way. If Voldemort had only gotten to you… well, they would have been as good as dead anyway. You were their whole world Harry. James, he was so proud. Anytime you did anything new, he would explode in pride. The first time you smiled, the first time you laughed, the first time you accidentally set his hair on fire. And Lily… well, she would just sit and watch you sleep. She'd be so jealous if you ever paid attention to anyone but her… you're first word was 'momma,' which was good, because I don't think she would ever forgive the person or object that you said first. It would kill them to think that you blamed yourself for what happened that night. Lily would have shouted herself blue at me, and then you, if she were here to do so. I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but you defiantly have Lily's temper. The point being Harry, many things went wrong that shouldn't have. But none of them were your fault. I want… no, I need you to understand this. Do you?" There were tears on both boys' faces now, but Harry nodded before staring out the window. The awkwardness returned. "While, then I'll let you finish writing your letter then," Sirius said, hoping that he had gotten through to Harry. He stood up to leave, but right as he reached the door, Harry spoke.

"Sirius?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Did…did I really set my Dad's hair on fire?" Sirius grinned and sat down next to Harry again.

"You sure did, and that wasn't all you did. You really lived up to the Marauder name, let me tell you about the time that…" Their conversation went on for hours, with many moments of laughter and tears, and later, when Remus came to check on them, he found both of them asleep on Harry's bed, with Harry's head resting on Sirius' chest, hints of smiles on both their faces. Remus smiled, and quickly grabbed his camera… in years to come, he would need something to blackmail Harry with, and this would work out perfectly.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

AN- That's right people, over two years since I wrote this story, I have finally written the epilogue you all asked for so long ago. You're impressed aren't you? Never thought it would happen? Well, neither did I, until tonight, when I was rereading through some of my old stuff and I got inspiration. That was about four hours ago, and now, this is the final product. It is now nearly three in the morning, and I have class at 10, so, that's going to be fun for me, but I think it was worth.

I know what I am going to write for the second part of the epilogue, so you don't have to wait another two and a half years for it. And, you may ask why I am writing a part two… well, mostly because I couldn't leave my story with 13 chapters…. Not lucky at all! I had non-prime numbers, so, hopefully you think of this as an advantage to you. So, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you think.


End file.
